Pokémon: The Argus Chronicle
by Proteus-92
Summary: A new day breaks over a new region. And on this day, two young hearts will set out, to begin their adventures in the magical world... of Pokémon.
1. Northspring Town

**Pokémon: The Argus Chronicle**

**By: Proteus-92**

**Chapter I: Northspring Town**

The young man sat alone in the back of the truck. Outside, he could hear the drone of an engine as the truck made its way down the road. It was very dark in the back of the truck, with only a few slits on each side in the rear providing light and fresh air. Needless to say, it had become burning hot in the back of the truck soon after the young man had climbed in, feeling like a sauna. Every now and then, the truck would hit a bump in the road, jostling him and the forest of boxes surrounding him.

Before long, the young man felt the truck slow to a stop, followed by the drone of the engine suddenly coming to a halt. A few moments later, the doors in the rear of the truck swung open. The young man hadn't adjusted to the sudden light, so all he could see were two blurry figures standing outside the truck. He heard one of the figures say "Machoke!" The other replied, "Yeah, go ahead and start unloading the boxes on that side." The voice then said to the young man, "Come on kid, wake up. We're here. You can pile out now." The young man's vision finally adjusted to the light; he could see that the first figure was a man in overalls and a red cap. The other was a Machoke, lifting up a tall stack of boxes with little effort. Eager to leave the stuffy truck, he went to the door and hopped out.

At once, a wave of relief washed over the young man- the air outside, while still warm, was far cooler than inside the truck. He looked around; a small cluster of houses surrounded him, about five in total, with another, much more modern looking building. Behind him, off in the distance, he could see the flat, blue expanse of the ocean. In front of him was a small two story house. The Machoke was already carrying his tall stack of boxes toward the front door; the man in the overalls followed, carrying a much smaller stack of boxes. As the two entered the house, a third person stepped out- a woman in a long white dress. She looked around momentarily before spotting him, and made her way over to him.

"Oh, here you are, Zack," his mother said. A moment passed before she asked him, "Well here we are… Northspring. So, what do you think of it so far?"

"It's nice," he replied. "I think I'll really like it here."

"That's good. I was worried that you wouldn't like it since it wasn't as big as Olivine." She paused for a moment. "You're probably exhausted from having to ride up here with all our things. Why don't you come inside and see your room? It's a lot bigger than the one you had at the apartment."

"Really? That's something I gotta see for myself." Zack's mother returned to the house, and he followed. He had been inside for only a few moments, but already, Zack could see that the first floor of the house, by itself, was bigger than the apartment he and his mother had lived in in Olivine City. The Machoke he had seen earlier set down his stack of boxes in a wide space off to their left and began to head for the door again; the man, meanwhile was busy putting together a small TV stand, aided by a Machop. "Don't worry miss," the man said to Zack's mother, "We're almost done here. We just need a few more minutes to finish setting everything up."

"Alright, thank you," she replied. She then said to Zack, "It's nice that we don't have to set up everything all by ourselves- those Pokémon movers are certainly convenient. Anyway, what do you think of the house so far?"

Zack replied, "Well, it's a lot bigger than the apartment was, that's for sure. It'll be nice to have all this space." He then asked, "Mom, is it alright if I go change my clothes? It was like a furnace in the back of the truck." His clothes were soaked with sweat, and he doubted he smelled all that great either.

"Of course. They've already finished setting up everything upstairs."

"Okay." Zack was just about to head up the stairs when his mom called, "Your room's on the left side!" He called back, "Okay, thank you Mom!" He headed up the stairs- at the top were two doors on the left and right, with only a few feet between them. He opened the left door and stepped into the room beyond. It was his room, there was little doubt about that- his bed, his desk, his dresser… all of the furniture that had been in his old bedroom was there. But this room was easily three times the size of his old bedroom, giving it a very empty feel. Aside from the furniture, the only other thing in the room was a modest pile of boxes in the middle that held all his belongings. He pulled out one labeled "Clothes- Zack" and opened it- sure enough, it was full of his clothes. He searched through the box, looking for something new to wear. Soon, he pulled out a red t-shirt, and began searching for something to go with it. There were plenty of pairs of pants ion the box, but Zack passed over all of them- Argus was famed for its year-round warm weather, so he doubted he would have any need for them.

Eventually however, he did find something- a pair of black shorts. Zack liked shorts- they were comfortable and easy to wear, though the cold weather at Olivine kept him from wearing them very often. He kicked off his shoes, undressed, and put on his new outfit. He looked at himself in the dresser's mirror- his reflection looked back. He took after his mother a great deal- they had the same face, the same grey eyes, the same brown hair, and even the same curly hair. He was pale, but he figured that this would be as good a place as any to build up a tan. The outfit wasn't bad, but it still seemed like it was missing something. So, he reached back into the box and pulled out a black hat, with a white Poké Ball on the front, before putting it on and looking back in the mirror. Perfect. He smiled and gave the mirror a thumbs-up; his reflection did the same.

"Hey there Mister Trainer," a girl's voice suddenly said from behind. Zack cried out in surprise and began to turn around, but stumbled over his own feet, falling on his back. There was the sound of laughter and the voice continued, "Oh I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Zack quickly got to his feet and looked over to where the voice was coming from- a girl, standing by his bedroom door. She was about his age, with black hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a dark blue tank top, a white pair of shorts, and a hat much like his own, but white with a black Poké Ball on the front. "It's been a long time, hasn't it Zack?"

"How do you know my name?" he asked, ignoring what she had said.

"Hey, is that any way to greet an old friend?" she asked.

"Who are you? Do I know you?" Was this some kind of joke? This girl claimed to know him, but he didn't remember anyone like her at all.

The girl frowned at him. "You really forgot about me? It's only been two years."

_Two years?_ Zack thought to himself. What had happened two years ago? He struggled to remember- so much had happened before he and his mother had moved away from Olivine City. But something came to him. A very good friend of his had moved away while they were still in Olivine, but he couldn't remember exactly who until…

"Megan?" He asked. "Megan is that you?"

She nodded, smiling. "Your mom didn't recognize me at first either." Before Megan knew it, Zack ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "I can't believe it's really you!" He said excitedly. "When you moved away I thought I'd never see you again!" Megan hugged him back. "It's good to see you too, Zack," she said, before gently pushing him back and asking, "So how come you moved here to Argus?"

Now, Zack's smile faded. "Well, you know that herb store my mom had back in Olivine? Business really started to go down not long after you moved away." He sat down on his bed. "We were gonna get evicted from the apartment, but mom had an idea. We'd move here to Argus, and restart the business."

"Well, why here?" Megan asked.

"Mom read online that herbal medicines are really popular over here. That, and tourists- mom says that they'd buy anything."

Megan sat down on the bed next to him. "That is true."

Zack then asked, "What about you? How did you end up here?"

"You remember my dad, right?"

"Professor Cypress? Yeah I remember him."

"Well, you know how my dad had to go away a lot for work? It turns out he was going here for research. He got so busy, that he couldn't come back to Olivine to visit anymore, so he moved my mom and me into a house he bought here."

"What kind of research does your dad do?"

"I'm not sure- he doesn't really talk about it all that much. He says it's important though, so I try to help him out." Megan looked down at a strange device strapped to her wrist. "I'm sorry Zack, I have to go. You should say hi to my dad, see if he recognizes you. He should be in the lab right now- it's that big, fancy building down the street. I'll see you later." She stood up and left his room. Zack stood up as well, and left his room. Downstairs, he saw that the movers had left; his mom was there, unpacking one of the numerous boxes littered around the room. When she saw him, she said, "I got quite the surprise when I found out your old friend Megan was living here. Does that mean Professor Cypress lives here too?"

Zack replied, "Yeah. Actually, I was going to go over and say hi to him."

"Make sure to say hi to him for me too. And don't be gone too long- I'll be starting dinner in a few minutes." Zack stepped out. In front of him, not too far away, he could see the modern building he had seen earlier- presumably, this was the lab. He made his way over to the building- it seemed to be entirely made up of some kind of opaque, blue glass. Almost entirely- there was a small section where the glass was clear. As Zack approached, it slid open, and he stepped inside- the lab was filled with numerous computers, desks, and all kinds of complex-looking machinery. Only one person was inside, an elderly man in a lab coat, standing in front of one of the complex machines. Zack approached him.

"Um… excuse me," Zack said to the man in the lab coat. "Are you Professor Cypress?" The man turned toward Zack and replied, "I'm sorry young man, I'm not professor Cypress; I'm just a lab assistant. Professor Cypress is doing fieldwork on Route 50 if you need to speak with him."

"Oh. Okay." Zack was just about to turn to leave when a thought occurred to him. "Hey…" he began, "if you don't mind me asking, what kind of research do you do here?"

"I certainly don't mind at all. In fact, it's good to hear that one so young is interested in our work. First, let me ask you something- do you know about the resort here in Argus?"

"The Ultra-Luxe? Yeah I know about it- it's supposed to be world famous."

"Well, when they were first building the resort, they had to contend with all the wild Pokémon. Their solution was to round all of them up, capture them, and re-release them into the wild elsewhere. Of course, they weren't able to do this to_ all_ the Pokémon here- flying type Pokémon migrate here every winter, there are plenty of water types in the surrounding ocean, and some rock and ground types still live in some of the island's caves. But for the most part, the Argus Islands were one of the few locations in the entire world that had no wild Pokémon. But that all changed about fifteen years ago, when trainers who came to the island began complaining about the lack of Pokémon for them to catch. Some scientists heard about this, and decided to conduct an experiment on how well Pokémon integrate into environments that have no wild Pokémon. So with permission from the resort, the scientists captured wild Pokémon and rereleased them into Argus."

"Where did the Pokémon come from?"

"They were imported from the Kanto and Johto regions, primarily. If the re-integration was successful, there were plans to import Pokémon from other regions, such as Hoenn and Sinnoh. Anyway, the scientists released the wild Pokémon here fifteen years ago, but only in the last seven years has anybody actually observed the results of the integration. Professor Cypress volunteered to do just that, so we set up our lab here in Northspring Town. We head out into the field regularly, observe the Pokémon, record our observations, and send them to our colleagues elsewhere."

"So, how is the re-integration going?"

"Very well, as a matter of fact. All the Pokémon that were introduced here are flourishing."

"That's good to hear. Thanks for all the info- I'm going to find Professor Cypress now."

"Don't forget, Professor Cypress is on Route 50- just head directly east from here and you should come across him eventually."

"I won't forget. Goodbye!" Zack called as he exited the lab. At the front door, he looked around, trying to figure out which way was east. He remembered looking at a map of Argus, and the fact that Northspring was surrounded on three sides by the ocean. In front of him, to the left, and to the right, he saw the sea; presumably, Route 50, the only route out of the town, was somewhere behind him. So, he rounded the lab and headed out of the town.

However, it wasn't long before he heard someone shouting down the path. Soon enough, he saw a person in a lab coat standing on a high tree branch. At the base of the tree was a fairly large, purple Pokémon- Zack recognized it as a male Nidoran. Despite the fact that the man was far out of its reach, the Nidoran stood at the base of the tree, growling up at him. Now that he was closer, he could hear the man's calls for help more clearly.

"Help!" The man called. "Somebody help! I require assistance!" The man took notice of Zack and called out "You! You there! Boy! Help me!" He pointed to a section of the ground some distance from the tree. "My bag is in the grass over there! There's a Poké Ball inside! Use the Pokémon in there to get rid of this Nidoran!" Zack hurried over to the spot where the man had pointed; as he had said, there was a satchel lying in the grass. He opened it, to be met with not one, but three Poké Balls. He grabbed the first one he saw- it had a label on the front that said "Cyndaquil." Taking it, he ran towards the Nidoran; when he was a few feet away, he tossed the Poké Ball, calling out, "Go Cyndaquil!"

When the ball hit the ground, it opened with a burst of white light. A few moments later, the light reformed into a small, blue and tan creature, with a long snout and a plume of fire on its back. Excitedly, the small creature said, "Cynda!" but the fire plume on its back flared up when it saw the Nidoran. The Nidoran had turned its attention away from the man in the tree when it heard Zack's shouts, and growled angrily "Nido!" when it laid its eyes on Cyndaquil. This wasn't Zack's first battle with a wild Pokémon, but without knowing what the Cyndaquil was capable of, he'd have to limit himself to using basic attacks. So he called out, "Cyndaquil, Tackle it!" Cyndaquil charged the Nidoran, hurling itself into the foe's side. Zack was surprised by the Cyndaquil's strength; despite the fact the Nidoran was a fair bit larger, he was still able to knock it off its feet. Undaunted, the Nidoran quickly climbed to his feet, and attempted to skewer the Cyndaquil with his horn, but he was able to avoid the assault. "Cyndaquil, Tackle it again!" Cyndaquil charged again; the Nidoran attempted to stab him with his horn once again, but Cyndaquil dodged again, striking the Nidoran directly on the side of its head. The Nidoran was knocked off his feet again; but this time, he was also knocked several feet back. He attempted to rise to his feet again, but wavered, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

At once, Zack picked up the Cydaquil and hugged it tight. "Good work, Cyndaquil!" he said happily; the small Pokémon replied "Cyn-da!" happily in return. He then heard a rustling sound off to the side; he looked to see the man climbing down the tree. It was the first time he had gotten a good look at the man; the man wore a plain brown t-shirt and jeans under a lab coat. Zack couldn't help but notice that aside from his brown eyes, the man bore a striking resemblance to Megan. Or perhaps it was the other way around- that Megan bore a striking resemblance to the man. Of course, Zack recognized him; a few grey streaks had appeared in his hair since he'd last seen him, but there was no mistaking it.

The man in front of him was Professor James Cypress.

"Thanks for helping me out back there," Professor Cypress said, holding out his hand. "I'm Professor Cypress, from Northspring Town." He didn't seem to recognize Zack at all.

Zack put down the Cyndaquil and took the professor'shand, giving it a firm shake. "No problem," he replied. "I already know who you are."

"Well, I'm glad to see that my reputation precedes me."

"It's not that. We've met before."

"We have? I don't remember anyone like you."

Zack supposed he would have to drop a more obvious hint. "Yeah, I guess it's been a few years, but we did meet before. In Olivine City."

"Olivine?" The professor was silent for several moments, before a look of realization spread across his face. "Zachary! I hardly recognized you! When did you get here?"

"We moved in today. I was just as surprised to find out you and Megan were here."

"It's a good thing you came when you did. I still can't believe I didn't recognize you sooner- it was so obvious from the way you battled." He paused. "Say, did you ever get a chance to compete for badges while you were still in Johto?"

"No. A bunch of things came up, so I never became a registered trainer."

"That's a real shame- I had a feeling that you would've gone far, Zack… you know, it wouldn't be right to let your talents go to waste. How would you feel if I told you there was a way you could help my research?"

"I'd be glad to help in any way I can."

A wide grin crossed the professor's face. "Great! You should head over to the lab. I just need to take care of a few things at home and I'll be right there." Zack turned to walk back to the town when Professor Cypress said to him, "Hold on just a second Zack." He looked back. "You can keep the Cyndaquil. I think you've earned it."


	2. Route 50

**Chapter II: Route 50**

A few minutes later, Zack stepped into the lab. The research aide, now working on a nearby computer, took notice of him and said, "Welcome back. Did you find Professor Cypress?"

"Yeah," Zack replied. "He's on his way back here right now. He told me there was a way I could help you guys with your research."

The aide stopped typing on the computer and looked over to Zack. "That's good to hear. As you can see, we're a bit understaffed at the moment, so any extra help is appreciated. Did he specify how you would be helping us?"

"No. I'm guessing he'll tell me when he gets here." There was the sound of a sliding door, and Professor Cypress entered the lab, followed by Megan. "Ah good, you're here. Zack, Megan, please follow me." Zack followed Professor Cypress and Megan over to another desk, one with numerous tall stacks of paper on it. The professor walked around it, and began searching for something- as he did, Megan asked him, "Dad, what's going on?"

The professor replied, "I'm glad you asked that, Megan. You see, Giles and I have been researching the results of the re-integration for several years now. We do a lot of traveling to observe how well the Pokémon have integrated into the new environment, but our work prevents us from examining them more closely. You can help us with this problem."

"How are we supposed to do that?"

"We want you travel around Argus, and capture wild Pokémon. You see, our lab acts as the hub for the Pokémon Storage System here in Argus- so every Pokémon you capture will be sent here. When your Pokémon arrive, we'll be able to analyze them up close, and run a few tests to see how well they've adapted to life here. Of course, it won't be an exact measure of how well each individual Pokémon is integrating, but it'll give us a general idea on each species as a whole."

"Alright," Zack said, "so we catch Pokémon, send them to you, and you study them for your research. Sounds easy enough."

"I'm happy to see that you're eager to help, Zack," Professor Cypress replied. He and Zack then looked over expectantly at Megan. "How about you, Megan?"

She was silent for several moments before replying, "Well… if it helps your research, then I'll do it."

"Excellent. But before we do anything else, there's something that both of you need to do. Come over here." The two circled around the desk; Professor Cypress was busily typing at a computer that had been hidden behind the numerous stacks of paper. As they moved behind him, the professor said, "Now before you can catch any Pokémon at all, you'll need to become registered trainers."

"Why?" Zack asked.

"Anyone who wants to own their own Pokémon is required to register as a Trainer with the Pokémon League. It's meant to be a security feature- dissuade illegal activity, but it doesn't seem to stop the likes of Team Rocket." He turned back toward the computer. "I'll start by entering your information first, Megan, since I already know it." He began typing Megan's information on the computer- Name: Megan Cypress. Age: 15. Date of Birth: 8/14/1990. Sex: F. Eyes: Blue. Hair: Black. The professor then browsed a small folder with several photographs of Megan, before selecting one and clicking on a button labeled "Submit."

"There you go Megan," Professor Cypress said. "Now it's your turn, Zack. Just punch in your information here." Zack leaned forward, and typed in his information in the boxes on the screen- Name: Zachary Adams. Age: 14. Date of Birth: 4/21/1991. Sex: M. Eyes: Grey. Hair: Brown. "Alright Zack, there's one last thing you need; a picture. You can use my webcam." The professor did some typing on the keyboard, bringing up a screen with Zack on it. "Just take a photo whenever you're ready; there's no need to rush." However, Zack just wanted to finish his registration as soon as possible, taking the first half-decent photo he could and clicking "Submit."

"Okay, now we have to print out your Trainer Cards," Professor Cypress said. "Since part of my job is to help new trainers register with the League, I have a card printer right here." He pointed to a small rectangular device on his desk. He turned it on, and clicked a button on the computer labeled "Print." Several moments passed, and then the machine printed out two cards. The professor took them, and held them out to Zack and Megan. "Here you are," he said. "These ID cards mean that you two are now official Pokémon Trainers. They're important, so don't lose them." Zack took his card and looked at it; Megan did the same. It had all the information and the photograph he had entered into the computer, along with something new- an eight digit ID number that read "50236394."

"Believe me, I don't enjoy this either," the professor said. "When I was your age, all you had to do to become a Trainer was find a Pokémon and start walking to the nearest Gym. But we're almost finished here." He began searching through his bag. "Megan, Zack has already chosen his Pokémon, so that leaves you two choices." He pulled the two Poké Balls in his bag out and held them up; Zack saw that they were labeled "Chikorita" and "Totodile." After a few moments, Megan chose the one labeled "Totodile" and pushed the button on the front, causing a white light to burst from the ball and fall to the floor. When the light faded, a small blue creature with a large jaw and red spines stood on the floor. It looked up at Megan and said in a happy, raspy voice, "Totodile!" Megan picked up the Totodile and held it out in front of her- it stared at her for a few moments, before holding up its arms and saying again "Totodile!"

"Oh he's perfect!" Megan cried, hugging the Totodile to her chest. "I want him!" Professor Cypress then set the last Poké Ball on the table. It opened in a burst of light, leaving a small, four-legged green creature with a leaf growing out of its head. "Totodile is yours, then. I suppose that means Chikorita will accompany me with my fieldwork." He began petting the small grass Pokémon. "By the way, where's your Cyndaquil, Zack?" he asked. "

"Oh, he's right here," Zack replied, pulling Cyndaquil's Poké Ball from his pocket. He released the Cyndaquil and picked it up, placing it on his head. "I see. And just so you know Zack, that Cyndaquil is a she."

"Really?" Zack lifted the Cyndaquil off his head and looked at her; however, he didn't see any obvious signs that the Cyndaquil was a girl. He placed the fire Pokémon back on his head and replied, "Well, if you say so…"

"I know so. I also have two more things I need to give you. First, you'll need these." The professor opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out ten Poké Balls, giving the two new Trainers five each. They were very different from his Cyndaquil's Poké Ball, being only about the size of a Ping-Pong ball. As Zack held up one to examine it, Professor Cypress continued, "I think you know how these work." Zack tapped the button on the front of the tiny Poké Ball- to his surprise, it suddenly grew to its standard size. "If you find a wild Pokémon and weaken it, just toss one of these at it. After a few moments, the Pokémon will be captured… hopefully. If you run out, you can buy more at any Poké Mart here in Argus." With another tap, it shrank to its original tiny size. "Neat," Zack said to himself, pocketing the tiny Poké Balls.

"The only things left to give you now are these." Professor Cypress reached into the desk drawer again, and pulled out a pair of odd looking devices, both a steely grey. He handed one to Zack, and the other to Megan. Zack examined the device- it was fairly large, about the size of an old Game Boy, but completely featureless save for a small blue button on the front- as soon as he pushed the button, the front of the device flipped open, revealing a pair of large screens.

"Giles and I use Pokédexes just like these when we work in the field to identify Pokémon- I'm certain that they'll help you out with your assignment."

"What's a Pokédex?" Zack asked

Before the professor could respond, Megan answered, "A Pokédex is an electronic encyclopedia that has all kinds of information about Pokémon. Watch." She opened her Pokédex and pointed it at Cyndaquil. After a moment, the device beeped and said, "**Cyndaquil- the Fire Mouse Pokémon. When angered or threatened, Cyndaquil will curl up into a ball and emit bursts of fire from its back.**"

"It can tell you all sorts of other things too…" Megan continued, "…like a Pokémon's type, its height, weight, where it can be found in the wild, and what kind of attacks it can learn."

"Wow, it can really do all of that?" Zack asked. He then pointed his Pokédex at the Totodile- after a small beep, it said, "**Totodile- the Big Jaw Pokémon. Although small, Totodile's highly developed jaws are capable of crushing almost anything. Trainers are advised to always exercise caution while handling a Totodile.**" Zack pocketed the Pokédex and said, "Wow, thanks Professor. This'll come in handy."

"Well, that's it," Professor Cypress said. "You two now have everything you'll need to help our research." He turned toward the computer, and opened up some kind of report. "You two don't have to start collecting Pokémon until tomorrow morning. In the meantime, you two should pack anything you'll need and rest up- you have a long road ahead of you."

"Professor, is there anywhere you want us to go in particular?" Zack asked.

"We want to get a general idea about how well all Pokémon are adapting, so in truth, you'll need to catch Pokémon from all the islands here in Argus." The professor fell silent as he returned to his work. With nothing else to do, the two new Trainers turned and left the lab.

As soon as Zack stepped out the front door, he said excitedly, "Oh man this is awesome! We get to travel around, catching Pokémon… it's like a dream come true! I can't wait until tomorrow morning!" He turned to his companion. "Isn't this great, Megan?"

She replied hesitantly, "Uh… yeah…"

"What's the matter, Megan? You don't seem very excited about all of this."

"Well, I've never been away from home for very long before. And I've always been kind of nervous around wild Pokémon, ever since that time…" Megan brought her hand up to a faded, almost invisible scar on her left arm. Seeing it caused Zack to recall several very… unpleasant memories, and he replied, "Yeah, I remember that too." He paused. "Do they still hurt? Your scars, I mean."

"Sometimes, but only right before it rains." The two fell silent for a few moments, before he began to say, "Look Megan, about what happened… I never meant to-"

"Zack, please… don't. I don't want to talk about that right now." She turned away from him. "I need to go home and get everything ready. I'll see you tomorrow morning. Goodbye." She began to walk away. Now all alone save for the Cyndaquil on his head, Zack began to return home as well. He wasn't entirely sure why he tried to bring up that… incident with her; it was unpleasant for him as well, but he couldn't help but worry about her. He liked to think that he'd gotten over it, at least to the point that he could talk about it, but it still seemed to affect Megan considerably. He hoped that she'd be able to do alright on her own…

Suddenly, a voice brought Zack out of his thoughts, asking him, "Where did you get that Pokémon?" He suddenly realized he was back in his house; his mother was in the entryway, presumably where she had been waiting for him. "What? Oh! Um… Professor Cypress gave it to me," Zack replied, placing the Cyndaquil on the floor.

"I finished making dinner just now." She paused for a moment as she sat down at the nearby dinner table. "You were gone longer than I thought you'd be."

"Sorry about that. Professor Cypress and I were busy catching up." He sat down at the table and began stuffing his face. "I have some great news though."

"What is it, Zack?" his mother asked.

"Today, Professor Cypress told me he wants me to help him with his research."

"That's good to hear. How will you be helping him?"

"Well, he wants me and Megan to go around all the islands in Argus, and catch Pokémon so he can examine them."

"Why would he want you two to…" she paused for a moment, before saying, "Oh that's right, James is studying the re-integration here isn't he? I bet it has something to do with how well the Pokémon are adapting or something like that."

"Yeah, that's exactly right," Zack replied. "So, what do you think? Can I do it?"

"Of course you can, Zack. It'll be good for you- you never did get the chance to do this while we were in Johto. I just need some time to get some things together for you."

"Thanks." He finished his food. "I should go upstairs and get some of my own things together." He picked up Cyndaquil and began heading for the stairs. "Oh, one more thing- Professor Cypress wants me to start first thing tomorrow morning, so it'd be really great if you could have everything ready before then."

"Don't worry, I'll have everything ready before you leave." And with that, Zack headed up the stairs and into his room. Setting Cyndaquil on the floor again, he began searching through the boxes in the center of his room- he was certain he had a backpack in one of his boxes, and he was determined to find it. Eventually, he pulled a large black backpack with many pockets out of one of the boxes. It would work just fine, so Zack dumped the contents of his pockets into the pack. He figured he'd sort everything out in the morning. He took a quick glance out the window- the sky had changed from a deep orange to an inky black.

"Well, not much else we can do but get some sleep, pal," Zack said to his Cyndaquil, setting her on his bed. He then changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed as well. "Good night Cyndaquil." From the darkness at the foot of his bed came a tired "Cynda…" in reply, followed by silence. Not too long after, Zack fell asleep as well.

* * *

><p>The next morning came. Zack was awakened by the rays of sunlight shining into his room. He climbed out of bed and stretched, saying, "Good morning Cyndaquil." The Pokémon replied "Quil!" before stretching and jumping down off the bed. He quickly dressed, pocketing his wallet, Trainer Card, and Pokédex, throwing the pack over his shoulder. For a moment all was silent, before Zack said, "Well, it's time for us to go. Come on Cyndaquil." He picked up the Pokémon in his arms and left his room.<p>

His mother was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs. "Good morning Zack," she said. "I'm surprised to see you awake so early."

Zack shrugged. "Well today is kind of a big day."

"I'm sorry Zack, I don't have all that much to give you." She held up a large flashlight. "This is all I could find." She handed it to him, and then took out a rather large roll of money. "You'll have to buy all the supplies you need at the Poké Mart in Ochre Town."

Slipping the flashlight and money into his bag, Zack said, "Oh. Well that's okay. Thanks mom." He turned, and was just about to open the front door when his mother said, "Zack… I have one last thing I need to give you." He turned back to look at her. "What is it?"

"Well… I was planning to give you this on your birthday in a few weeks, but… since you might not be back home by then, I thought that I should probably give this to you now." She brought her hand out from behind her back- in it, she held a strange blue object, about the size of the palm of Zack's hand.

"That… that's the new Pokégear they released last month," Zack said. "How did you get one?"

"I've been saving up for it." She handed the device over to him. "I knew how much you wanted one, so I got it before we left."

Zack strapped the Pokégear to his wrist. "Wow, I… don't know what to say."

"'Thank you' would be a good place to start." She then embraced Zack. "Don't forget to call me, okay?"

"I won't." She let him go. Zack opened the front door and stepped outside. Eventually, he found himself walking down Route 50, past the same spot where he had rescued Professor Cypress and met Cyndaquil. But he saw something up ahead that caused him to pause.

Further up the road, Zack could see a small brown bird busily pecking at the ground. He ducked low and said to Cyndaquil, "Hey, do you see that Pokémon up ahead? We're gonna catch it." Zack brought out his Pokédex and pointed it at the bird, and after a moment it said, "**Spearow- the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Highly aggressive, Spearow will attack any human or Pokémon that enters its territory.**" Slowly, he and Cyndaquil began creeping up on the Spearow, which took no notice of them. When they were close, Zack said to Cyndaquil, "Okay, you keep going, and when you get close, Tackle it."

"_Quil_," Cyndaquil replied quietly. Slowly, she inched her way over to the bird Pokémon, keeping low to the ground- when she was close, she jumped up and charged the Spearow. There was no time for the Spearow to react, and it took the full brunt of Cyndaquil's Tackle; it was knocked off its feet, but did not rise. Seeing his chance, Zack reached into his bag, grabbed an empty Poké Ball, and tossed it at the downed Spearow. The ball struck the bird Pokémon, turning it into a white light and pulling it inside; button lit up red, and the ball began to wobble, but after only a few seconds, the ball opened again, and the Spearow reformed and flew away.

"No, it got away! I can't believe it! It was so close!" While in his rage, Zack suddenly took notice of something moving in the grass just off the path. He looked, to see another small brown bird- but this one was different from the Spearow that had just escaped. He brought up his Pokédex. "**Pidgey- the Tiny Bird Pokémon. Less aggressive than Spearow, Pidgey will rapidly flap its wings at ground level when threatened, throwing up a cloud of sand that blinds its attackers.**"

Zack quickly moved back to Cyndaquil, picking up the Poké Ball he had thrown. He said quietly, "I think we can get this one Cyndaquil, but we have to be smart about it. Can you make a Smokescreen to hide in?" Cyndaquil nodded and replied, "Cyndaquil."

"Okay, now go get it." Cyndaquil crept towards the Pidgey. This time, as she drew close, she breathed out a large cloud of thick, black smoke, surrounding both her and the Pidgey. The bird Pokémon let out a confused chirp; at that moment, Zack called out, Cyndaquil use Tackle!" He couldn't see anything through the cloud, but after a moment, the Pidgey tumbled out, followed by Cyndaquil. The Pidgey got back onto its feet and took to the air, but rather than running away, it turned back and began speeding toward Cyndaquil for a powerful tackle. "Use Smokescreen again!" Cyndaquil let out another cloud of black smoke, completely hiding her. The Pidgey slowed itself and landed just outside the smoke cloud, and with a flap of its wings, sent out a small cyclone of wind; the smoke cleared, but there was no sign of Cyndaquil.

Zack suddenly spotted Cyndaquil off to the Pidgey's side, inching toward it- the bird took no notice of her. Now he had a chance. "Cyndaquil, Tackle it!" There was no time for the Pidgey to react; as it turned toward Zack, Cyndaquil's Tackle hit it dead center. It was knocked off its feet again, and thrown back several feet by the blow; it tried to get to its feet, but much more slowly than the last time. Seeing the opportunity, Zack threw the Poké Ball, calling out "Pidgey, you're mine!" The ball hit, and as before, the Pidgey was pulled inside; a red light appeared over the button as the ball wobbled back and forth. But this time, rather than opening, the red light faded, and the Poké Ball fell still.

"I… I did it. _I really did it!_ I caught my very first Pokémon!" Zack bent down to pick up the Poké Ball, but suddenly, it vanished into thin air. Shocked, he began searching around, but there was no sign of the ball anywhere. He suddenly became aware of a ringing sound coming from his Pokégear- he pushed a button on its front, brought it up to his face, and said into it, "Hello?"

"Hello? Hello is this Zack?" the voice at the other end of the phone asked.

"Professor Cypress? How did you get my number?"

"Your mother gave it to me. I'm sorry for not telling you this earlier, but when you catch a Pokémon, we'll transport it to the lab to do a quick examination. Don't worry, we'll send the Pokémon right back unless you have six, in which case we'll keep it." There was silence for a few moments. "Hmm… judging from its markings, it looks like this Pidgey flew here from the Johto region. At any rate, he seems to be living fairly well- I'll send him back now." The professor hung up. A few seconds later, the Poké Ball reappeared at the same spot it had been before. He picked it up and opened it; after a moment and a flash of light, the bird Pokémon was standing on the ground in front of him.

"Hey there," Zack said, bending down over the Pidgey. "I know this might be a lot for you to take in, but I'm your new master now. I'm Zack, and this is my other Pokémon Cyndaquil. I hope we-"

Before Zack could finish, the Pidgey squawked angrily at him took off, pecking furiously around his head. He ran down the road with the Pidgey and Cyndaquil in pursuit, shouting all the while, "Hey- _ow! Ow!_ Stop it! Ouch! Cut it out! _Ow!_"


	3. Ochre Town

**Chapter III: Ochre Town**

With some difficulty, Zack was able to return Pidgey to his Poké Ball. It was then that Zack noticed he was standing outside a small town. By the road was a sign that read "Ochre Town: Where the Forest and the Sea Meet." When he finished reading, he picked up Cyndaquil and said, "This was that town mom mentioned earlier. We should head in and get all our supplies."

As soon as he set foot in town, he heard someone call out, "Hey you! Young man! Come over here, I want to speak to you!" He looked to see on old man nearby, waving to him, curious, Zack approached the old man and asked, "Hey, can I help you out?"

"Actually, I think that I could help you. You are a new Trainer- I can tell by looking at you. I have advice that would be helpful for a Trainer like you, if you would care to hear it."

Zack wasn't headed anywhere in a hurry, so he replied, "Okay, I'll listen to your advice."

"Excellent. Please, follow me." The old man began to quickly walk away, and Zack hurried to catch up to him.

After a few moments, they stopped in front a large white building with a red roof, right by the town's entrance. "This is a Pokémon Center. Whenever your Pokémon are tired or injured, you should bring them here to recover. Pokémon Centers provide other services too, like a safe place to stay for the night." They walked a short distance, stopping at a convenience store right next to the Pokémon Center. "This here is the Poké Mart. It sells all sorts of items for Pokémon Trainers like you. You should always take note of the items each Mart sells, since the inventory is different for each island." The two continued east, past the Poké Mart and various houses until they reached a large beach. "Out there is the sea, as you can see. All kinds of water type Pokémon live in the ocean surrounding Argus." The two then headed to the south end of the city, stopping in front of a large road. "This is Route 51. Following it south will take you straight to Garnet City, though you'll have to pass through Ochre Forest first."

Finally, the old man led Zack to a small house near the entrance to Route 51. "This is my house, and the end of the tour. Thank you for keeping me company- it warms my heart to see such kindness in someone your age."

"Hey, it's no problem," Zack replied.

"I'm sure I have something I could give you for your time… I know! Take this." The old man took a small black object from his pocket that resembled a DS card. "I see that you have a Pokégear. Plugging in this Radio Card will let you listen to the radio programs they broadcast from Keystone City. It isn't much, but it's the least I can do."

Zack inserted the Radio Card into a slot in the Pokégear's side. "Wow, thanks. I'll make sure I use it."

"Make sure to stop by again of you need any advice," the old man called as he entered his house. In truth, the old man didn't tell Zack anything he didn't already know (although this "Garnet City" seemed like a good place to go to next), but as he said, he wasn't headed anywhere in a hurry- besides, he'd gotten a free Radio Card out of it. But now, he had to get back to business- so he headed to the Poké Mart the old man had shown him. He recalled Cyndaquil to her Poké Ball and entered- the Mart was surprisingly large on the inside, and seemed to have almost any item imaginable. If he was going to find what he was looking for, he would need some help. So he approached the front counter where a young man stood. As he drew close, the young man said, "Welcome! How can I help you?"

"I'm a new Pokémon Trainer," Zack replied, "so I need some supplies."

"Alright, I can help you with that." The young man hopped directly over the counter. "Follow me please." The two began walking down one of the Mart's aisles. "We've had a few Trainers come through here before looking for supplies, so I have a pretty good idea of what you'll need. Luckily, most of what you'll need are also basic camping supplies. Here we are." They stopped in front of a shelf labeled, appropriately enough, "Camping Supplies." The man began to say, "Now, you'll only need a few basic supplies since you won't be spending much time on the road. But you will need one of these." He took a rolled-up sleeping bag off a shelf and handed it to Zack. "I'd recommend that you get a tent too, but you'd probably want to travel light. You'll need one of these, too, and one of these." He then placed a small propane burner and a metal cooking pot on top of the sleeping bag. "Well that takes care of outdoor supplies. Now we should probably go to the food section and-"

"Hold on just a second," Zack said. "I think I can find everything else I'm looking for. Can I leave these at the front counter?"

"Of course. Just let me take those for you." He took the items he had handed Zack with ease.

"You should really think about making special packages for new Trainers or something like that. It would probably save you a lot of trouble."

"You know, that's actually not a bad idea. I should talk to my manager about that- maybe we can put some together."

Zack left the Poké Mart a few minutes later, his backpack a good deal heavier than it had been when he entered. In addition to the sleeping bag, burner, and pot, he'd bought a few days' worth of food, extra Poké Balls, a couple of Potions, an Antidote, and an Escape Rope for good measure. He released Cyndaquil, and the two made their way to the south end of the city, to the entrance to Route 51. "Well," Zack began, "there's only one way for us to go. Come on Cyndaquil." And with that, the two started down the road. After a few minutes, they found a sign at the side of the road. At the top of the sign were the words "Ochre Town" with an arrow pointing to the right, back the way they had come; at the bottom the sign read "Ochre Forest/Garnet City" with an arrow pointed left. Obviously, they couldn't go back the way they came, so they continued forward.

A few minutes later, the two came to a large blockade of tall, forbidding trees; a dimly-lit path had been cut through the forest in front of them, providing the only visible way forward. There was another sign posted on the side of the road that simply read "Ochre Forest." However, there was another message posted at the bottom of the sign. "Notice: Certain sections of Ochre Forest can become extremely dark even in daylight hours and items can be easily lost. Please ensure that all loose articles are properly secured before travelling through the forest." Fortunately, since Zack had already secured all his loose articles before he left town, he could continue forward without delay. After only a few minutes, the path in the forest seemed to vanish, but Zack pressed on regardless.

After about ten minutes of walking, Zack came to a stop and looked around. It seemed that he had already been this way before, but because everything looked alike, he couldn't be sure. "Hmm… Cyndaquil, I think we might be lost. But that's not a problem. My Pokégear has a map- I can just use that to get us out of here." He brought up his Pokégear and pressed the map button; after a few seconds of loading, a map of the Argus Islands came up, with two words superimposed over them: "Location Unknown." Thinking he just needed to wait for a moment, he exited the map screen and reentered it a few seconds later- but the words "Location Unknown" still flashed onto the screen. Now, Zack was worried; he turned the Pokégear off and on again, but when he brought up the map screen for a third time, the words "Location Unknown" were still stamped across the map.

All the color drained from Zack's face. "Um, Cyndaquil? We might be in a little bit of trouble."

He suddenly had an idea and tossed out Pidgey's Poké Ball "Okay, Pidgey… I need you to help us find a way out of here. Can you do that?" The Pidgey did not comply. Instead, it squawked angrily at Zack; then, it jumped onto his shoulder and began gnawing on his ear. "Oh, I should've known you'd be no help at all," Zack said. "Come on Cyndaquil, we'll have to find a way out by ourselves." But they didn't find a way out. Hours passed, but they seemed to come no closer to leaving the forest. Uncertainty began to overtake the three: Zack's pace slowed considerably, Cyndaquil would no longer walk and had to be carried, and even Pidgey gnawed Zack's ear with less enthusiasm, before stopping entirely.

Soon, Zack saw that what little light they had left was rapidly fading. He set Cyndaquil down and sat down on the ground; Pidgey hopped off his shoulder and sat down alongside him and Cyndaquil. "It's almost dark, and we still haven't been able to find a way out of here. We don't have much choice but to camp out here for the night." Cyndaquil replied with a worried "_Quil_…" Pidgey also replied with a concerned chirp. Zack laid down on his back. "What if we get stuck in this place forever? Will anyone come looking for us?" His Pokémon laid down next to him. "I'm sorry guys, but this might be the end…"

"What are you idiots doing out here!" Suddenly, Megan was standing over him, hands on her hips, a stern look on her face. "Megan!" Zack quickly got to his feet. "What are you doing out here? How did you find us?"

"I've been following you ever since you left Ochre Town. It's a good thing I was- you three have been wandering around in circles for hours."

"Hey, don't blame me- the map on my Pokégear says my location is unknown."

"Let me see it." Without waiting, she grabbed his wrist and looked at the Pokégear. She tapped the screen a few times and then said, "Well here's the problem- you didn't turn on the GPS tracking. The map function won't work if it's off." She tapped the screen a few more times. "There. It should be working just fine now." Zack checked the Pokégear's screen- sure enough, not only did the map show his location, but it even had an arrow showing which direction he was facing (apparently he was facing west).

"Zack, do you not think things through before you do them? I mean, what would've happened if I hadn't decided to follow you? How long do you think you would've been stuck out here?" She looked away from him and sniffed, wiping her eyes; Zack knew exactly what was coming next. When she looked back at him, tears were freely flowing down her face. "Why do you always make me worry about you? When are you going to learn that I won't always be around to help when you get in trouble? Don't you ever think about anyone else? Huh?"

Zack looked away, ashamed. Even when they were very young, Megan had always gotten like this whenever he did something that… demonstrated poor judgment. But the worst part about it was that it never failed to make him feel guilty about worrying her. It took him a few moments to reply, "…I'm sorry."

She wiped her eyes again. "Whatever. It's dark now, so we might as well set up camp here and move on in the morning."

A few minutes later, the two had managed to start a campfire. As they and their Pokémon sat by the fire, Megan said, "I couldn't help but notice that you've caught a new Pokémon."

"Yeah, I caught Pidgey this morning." At the mention of his name, the Pidgey jumped up onto Zack's shoulder and began gnawing on his ear again.

"He doesn't seem to like you very much."

"I think he just needs some time to get used to me." He then asked, "So what about you? Have you caught any Pokémon yet?"

"While I was following you earlier, I caught a Caterpie." She brought out a Poké Ball and opened it, releasing a small green caterpillar.

"Really? I didn't hear anyone else."

"Maybe you need to clean out your ears- we did make a lot of noise." She fell silent for a few moments, and pulled her knees against her chest. "Zack… I'm getting a really weird feeling right now."

"Weird how?"

"I don't know… like there's something watching us."

"Maybe we're being stalked by _a ghost Pokémon! Oooohh!_" Zack waved his arms over his head while making his best "spooky" voice.

"Cut it out! It's bad enough that we have to sleep in a forest full of bugs. If it turns out there are ghosts here too, I'm leaving as fast as I can, and I don't care if you can't keep up with me."

"I was just kidding. And that's a terrible thing to say to your friend, you know that?" Megan didn't reply. She simply stared at him, her eyes wide, and her face pale. "What's the matter?" Slowly, she raised her arm and pointed a shaking finger somewhere behind Zack- she opened her mouth, but all that came out was a small squeak. He slowly looked back over his shoulder.

Three Pokémon were floating in the air behind him. The first was little more than a black orb with an angry face, surrounded by a cloud of purple gas. The second resembled a floating blue head, with red eyes and flowing hair. The last seemed to be wrapped in a dark cloak, and wore a cartoon-like skull mask- a single red eye floated back and forth between the eyeholes of the mask. A Gastly, a Misdreavus, and a Duskull- all three were ghost Pokémon.

Megan screamed. Zack cried out in surprise and jumped to the other side of the campfire. The three ghosts began slowly circling around the two and their Pokémon, cutting off their escape. "Well, it looks like you spoke too soon," Zack replied.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Megan asked.

"Isn't it obvious? We have to fight our way out of this. I'll take the Duskull."

"Okay. I'll go after the Misdreavus." The two split up to face off against the Pokémon they had chosen. "Okay Cyndaquil, Tackle that Duskull!" Zack called out. Cyndaquil charged and leapt at the Duskull, but something very strange happened; rather than striking her foe, Cyndaquil simply passed through the Duskull as though it hadn't been there at all.

"Zack, normal type moves don't work on ghost Pokémon!" Megan called out, as her Totodile hit the Misdreavus with a jet of water. So, Zack called out "Cyndaquil, use Ember!" Cyndaquil opened her mouth, but all that came out were a few small sparks. This was bad. Cyndaquil didn't know a single fire type attack, meaning that against Duskull she was essentially useless. But, he did have another Pokémon. "Pidgey, use Gust!" To his surprise, the bird Pokémon complied, and flapped its wings to send out a small cyclone of wind. The gust hit the ghost Pokémon, pushing it back. The Duskull recovered quickly, a purple glow appearing around its eye- a moment later, it fired a black beam at Pidgey from its eye. The beam hit Pidgey, but it seemed to have no effect. "Pidgey, use Gust again!" Pidgey sent out another Gust, striking the Duskull. The Duskull hadn't been ready and was pushed back again; it slammed into a nearby tree and fell to the ground, its eye turning into a large red X.

Zack reached into his pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball, before tossing it at the downed Duskull. It was pulled inside, and a few moments later, the red light on the front faded and the ball stopped moving. A few seconds after that, the ball vanished. He looked over to see that the Misdreavus was also gone, leaving only the Gastly behind. When the Pokémon realized it was alone, it turned and ran, disappearing into the darkness surrounding the campsite.

"Are you okay?" Megan asked him.

"I'm fine- I even caught that Duskull. What happened to that Misdreavus you were fighting?"

"I caught it too." Suddenly, a ring came from Zack's Pokégear, along with another ringing coming from Megan. Zack answered his Pokégear, while Megan brought the strange device on her wrist up to her face. At the other end was Professor Cypress. "Megan, Zack, I was just leaving the lab when I saw a pair of Poké Balls had arrived. What are you doing out catching Pokémon this late this late?" When both Zack and Megan began talking at once, the professor interrupted them, saying, "One at a time, please."

"Well, Zack and I are camping in Ochre Forest," Megan said. "These three ghost Pokémon just showed up and attacked us. We caught two, but the third one got away."

"I see." There was the sound of someone walking, followed by a rustling. "Well, I suppose I could do two more analyses before calling it a night." There was silence for a moment. "I see that you caught a Misdreavus, Megan. I didn't think there were any in this part of Argus." More silence. "Alright, she's perfectly healthy, for a ghost anyway. Now to examine your Pokémon, Zack." There was the sound of a Poké Ball opening, followed by a muted "…what? There's no way…" Suddenly, Professor Cypress was back on the phone. "Zack, you caught a Duskull! But we didn't relocate any Pokémon from the Hoenn region. Where did you find it?"

"It was one of the three ghost Pokémon that attacked us," Zack replied.

For a few moments, the professor said nothing. Then, he said "Megan, I'm sending back your Misdreavus right now. Zack, I need to do some more extensive tests on your Duskull. I'll send him to you tomorrow morning. So much for heading home early…" The professor hung up.

A moment later, a single Poké Ball appeared by the campfire. As Megan picked it up, she asked, "Okay, so what do we do now?"

Zack replied, "Isn't it obvious? We get a good night's sleep, and we keep going tomorrow morning," as he unrolled his sleeping bag.

"You're going to sleep? After all that just happened?"

"There were only three Pokémon. We caught two, and it doesn't look like that Gastly is coming back anytime soon, so yeah, I'm going to sleep." He climbed into the sleeping bag. "Keep your Pokémon as lookouts if it helps you feel better."

"Okay then…" Megan unrolled her own sleeping bag and climbed in. "Totodile, can you put out the campfire?" The Totodile replied with a raspy "Dile!" and spayed the fire with a jet of water, plunging the small camp into darkness. "Good night, Zack."

"Good night, Megan."

* * *

><p>The next morning, Zack was awakened by a call to his Pokégear. He sat up in his sleeping bag and answered it, tiredly saying, "Hello?"<p>

"Good morning Zack. I figured you would have been awake by now."

"Oh, hey Professor. Did you manage to figure out… whatever it was you were trying to figure out last night?"

"Unfortunately, no. As far as I can tell, there are only two possible ways your Duskull could have gotten here. He could've floated here from Hoenn- it's unlikely but not completely impossible. However, it's far more likely that somebody released a Duskull or one of its evolutions into the wild here. At any rate, I'm sending back your Duskull now. I'll call you again soon." A few moments after the professor hung up, a Poké Ball appeared next to Zack's sleeping bag. He opened it, releasing the Duskull within- to his surprise, the ghost Pokémon was asleep. He was just about to recall it, but as long as it was out, it couldn't hurt to learn something about it, so Zack pulled out his Pokédex. "**Duskull- the Requiem Pokémon. Primarily nocturnal, Duskull will relentlessly pursue its prey until morning. It is capable of passing through any barrier regardless of thickness.**"

"Nng… do you have to talk so loud when you're on the phone?" Megan asked tiredly as she sat up in her sleeping bag.

"Sorry Megan, I didn't mean to wake you up," Zack replied, climbing out of his sleeping bag.

"It's fine. We have to get going anyway." She climbed out of her sleeping bag as well. As the two began cleaning up their campsite, Zack asked, "Hey Megan, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"What's that thing on your wrist? It's not a Pokégear- I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."

"What, this?" She held up her arm to give Zack a better view of the device. "It's a Pokétch."

"A… Pokétch? What's that?"

"A Pokémon Watch- they're supposed to be really popular up in Sinnoh. Mine's a special deluxe version with a built-in phone and radio."

"Sinnoh? You mean that region all the way up north? How'd you get a Pokétch from there?"

"My dad had to go up to Sinnoh for some kind of research conference a few years ago. He got it for me before he came back."

The two finished soon after and, after waking up their Pokémon, continued on their way. As the two trudged through the forest, Zack asked, "Megan, how many Pokémon do you think your dad wants to catch?"

"I don't know, as many as he needs for his research. I'm sure he'll call when he doesn't need us to gather any more Pokémon for him."

"I remember you said you helped Professor Cypress with your research. What did you do for him before this?"

"I went out to the field to observe Pokémon. I watched them and wrote down what I saw."

Gradually, the forest receded, and the group was once again out in the open. Up ahead in the distance, they could see a city, right at the edge of the coast. "There it is," Megan said, "…Garnet City. That's where you were headed, right Zack?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Let's go." As they walked, he asked, "Hey Megan, aren't you going to let your Misdreavus out?"

"Yeah, I guess so." She grabbed a Poké Ball from her pocket and opened it. A few moments later, the Misdreavus appeared; it let out a yawn and said quietly, "…dreavus…"

"So that's a Misdreavus. I've never seen one up close before." Zack brought out his Pokédex. "**Misdreavus- the Screech Pokémon. Misdreavus enjoys frightening others in the night with its screams and wails. It then absorbs its target's fear into its red orbs and converts it into nutrition.**"

When Zack looked up from his Pokédex he realized that Misdreavus was staring at him very intently. Suddenly, Misdreavus floated over to Zack and began rubbing against his cheek. Zack was quite surprised; the sensation wasn't painful… but at the same time, he couldn't exactly say it was the most pleasant feeling in the world. "Oh man, this feels really weird. Megan, tell her to stop."

"Okay. Misdreavus, come back over here." The ghost Pokémon pulled away for a few moments, but then went right back to rubbing against his cheek. "I don't believe it! She just stuck her tongue out at me! Oh, that's _it_, missy! You're going back in your Poké Ball!" Megan pulled a Poké Ball from her pocket. As soon as the ghost Pokémon saw it, it rapidly floated away. Soon, Megan was running circles around Zack, trying (and failing) to recall her new companion.


	4. Garnet City

**Chapter IV: Garnet City**

About twenty minutes later, Zack and Megan reached the edge of the city. Zack could see that it was much bigger than either Northspring Town or Ochre Town- it didn't hold a candle to Olivine City, of course, but it was still very impressive nonetheless. By the road was a sign that read "Garnet City: The Shining Gem of Argus."

"Well, here we are…" Megan said, "Garnet City. There's a ferry here that can take us over to the main island."

"Alright, then we should get going," Zack replied, and the two entered the city. As they walked, they passed a great multitude of houses, stores, hotels, and various other buildings. After a few minutes of silence, Zack asked, "Have you been to all the cities here in Argus?"

"Yeah," she replied. "My dad and I do a lot of traveling between the islands, so I've been to every city and town here at least twice."

Suddenly, something caught Zack's eye. It was a building, but something set it apart from the others in the city; the building was short and wide, and appeared to be oval in shape. The design alone made the building highly unusual, but it was the markings on the building's exterior that drew Zack's interest- an image of a Poké Ball painted above the door, and a sign posted on the side of the building that read simply "Gym."

There was no mistake about it. The building was a Pokémon gym, just like the one back in Olivine City.

"Wow," Zack said. "I didn't know there were any gyms here in Argus."

Megan replied, "There are, but there's not much point in going to them."

"Why's that?"

"You know how in Johto there were eight gyms? Well here, there are only seven."

"Okay… why is that important?"

"Well, a region needs to have at least eight gyms for it to get its own league. You know, the Elite Four, a Champion, everything like that. People have been talking about getting the Pokémon League to come out here- they say it would be good for tourism- but they can't decide where to build the last gym."

"So there's no local league. Does that mean all the gyms here aren't official or something?"

"Oh no, the gyms _are_ officially licensed by the Pokémon League, so they can hand out badges. It's just that without a regional league, there's not much point to collecting them… other than for bragging rights."

"How do you know all this stuff, Megan?"

"I was curious about all this too, so I asked my dad about it- he explained it to me. And before you ask, no, I don't have any badges." Megan adjusted her backpack. "Well I don't know about you, but I'm catching the soonest ferry over to the main island. I'll see you later Zack." She turned away.

"Wait." Zack said; she turned back toward him. "We should get each other's phone numbers. In case something comes up."

"Alright, let's do that." The two exchanged phone numbers, before a brief silence settled between the two. "I really need to get going," Megan finally said. "Maybe we'll see each other again out there." She turned, and began to walk away.

Zack watched her Megan leave for several moments, before turning his attention back toward the gym. He never had the chance to compete for gym badges before moving away from Johto; by the time he was ten, he had already begun working at his mother's herb store, trying his best to help keep it in business. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to gather badges while he was helping Professor Cypress's research- he could challenge the Gym Leaders while he was resting and picking up supplies in town. And in any case, the gyms would be a good way to strengthen his own Pokémon- there could be no telling what kind of powerful Pokémon could be roaming the islands. So, without any hesitation he walked toward the gym and entered.

Inside, the gym was rather dark, with only a few lights scattered across the ceiling. The floor was hard, and seemed to be covered with a seemingly endless number of tatami mats. The gym itself was seemingly empty, with no other Trainers and no furnishings… save for two large stone pillars in front of him, topped by a Poké Ball. Suddenly, Zack saw a person he hadn't seen before approaching him- a man with short black hair, wearing the stereotypical outfit of a nerd, complete with the thick-rimmed glasses.

"Hey there," the strange man said. "It's been a while since anyone came here."

"Hi…" Zack replied uncertainly, and then asked, "Are you the Gym Leader here?"

"Oh no, I'm not a Gym Leader. I'm not even a Pokémon Trainer. But I do know a lot about the Gym Leaders and their Pokémon. You can think of me as a Pokémon Coach."

"Alright then… Coach. What can you tell me about this gym?"

"The Gym Leader here is a man named Braun, an expert with fighting type Pokémon. Fighting types can easily demolish normal and rock type Pokémon… but they have real trouble against flying and psychic types, and they can't hit ghost types at all. You should use those kinds of Pokémon if you have them. If you're serious about facing Braun, you can find him at the far end of the gym."

"Thanks." Zack pushed forward, deeper into the gym. At the far end of the gym, Zack saw a man- he was bald, wore a plain orange gi with no shoes, and had his forearms and hands wrapped in thick bandages. The man stood in front of a large stack of wooden boards, supported by a pair of large cinderblocks. The man drew in a deep breath, before striking the stack of boards with a powerful blow. A large crack appeared right in the center of the stack of boards, but incredibly, the boards at the very top and very bottom were unbroken. Zack could help but applaud- such a spectacle must have required a great deal of talent.

The man then took notice of Zack. "So, a challenger has finally come," he said. "It has been some time since a Trainer last stood against me. I am Braun, the Leader of this gym. I have devoted my entire life to studying the ways of fighting Pokémon. By training with them, learning their secrets, I too become stronger. It's good that you've come- I wish to test my knowledge against a worthy opponent. Come." He stepped around the cinderblocks, stopping some distance away from Zack; he then reached into his gi and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Let us find out just how worthy you are."

Braun tossed out the Poké Ball; from it emerged a small white creature with thin arms, legs, and a tail; a stubby nose and two glaring eyes were its only visible facial features. Zack brought up his Pokédex. "**Mankey- the Pig Monkey Pokémon. Mankey is very ill-tempered, and can fly into a rage at a moment's notice. In its rage, this Pokémon will attack anything that draws near, whether friend or foe.**"

Zack grabbed a Poké Ball from his own pocket and threw it, releasing Cyndaquil. "Alright Cyndaquil, use Tackle!" Cyndaquil charged; as she drew closer, Braun said calmly, "Mankey, use Seismic Toss." As Cyndaquil leapt up to Tackle Mankey, he suddenly grabbed her out of the air and threw the fire Pokémon with all his might, tossing her some distance away. She quickly got back on her feet. "Cyndaquil, use Ember!" She opened her mouth, the plume of fire on her back flaring up for a moment; a fireball flew out of Cyndaquil's mouth, and struck Mankey dead center, knocking him off his feet. The Mankey was able to quickly recover.

"Mankey, use Earthquake." The Mankey hopped up into the air, hitting the ground hard; the impact threw Cyndaquil into the air, and she landed on her back, close to the Mankey. The Mankey then came up to her, brought up his foot, and stomped on Cyndaquil. She let out a pained cry, accompanied by a loud cracking sound; when the Mankey withdrew, she tried to get back on her feet, but simply couldn't. "Oh no, Cyndaquil come back!" Zack called Cyndaquil back into her Poké Ball. Braun then said, "If you are ready to surrender, then just let me know."

"I won't give up just yet! Go, Pidgey!" He threw out another Poké Ball, releasing the bird Pokémon. "Mankey, use Karate Chop." The Mankey swung its arm at Pidgey, but the bird Pokémon easily avoided the attack. Mankey tried attacking again, but once again, Pidgey was able to avoid it. Soon, Mankey was unleashing a flurry of attacks, its fury becoming more evident every second, but Pidgey was able to easily avoid each one Eventually, Mankey drove its fists into the ground and pulled up a large slab of rock, before hurling it at Pidgey. Pidgey took to the air, avoiding the stone slab. The Mankey jumped up into the air, continuing its assault, but Pidgey circled in the air above him, just out of reach.

Zack waited for a break in the Mankey's attack. As soon as he saw one, he called out, "Pidgey, use Quick Attack!" Pidgey disappeared briefly; it reappeared, slamming into the Mankey at high speed, knocking it off balance. "Now hit it with Gust!" Pidgey sent out a cyclone of air that struck the Mankey and sent him reeling. "Alright, now finish it with a Tackle!" Pidgey dive-bombed the Mankey, hitting his face dead center; the opponent teetered for a moment, before falling flat on his back, making no attempt to rise.

Braun recalled his Mankey. "A surprising turn of events," he said, "…but do not think that this battle is over." He withdrew another Poké Ball from his gi and tossed it out; from it emerged a strange yellow Pokémon, pudgy and yellow with short arms and legs. Zack brought out his Pokédex, remarking, "What in the world is that?" His question was answered a few moments later. "**Makuhita- the Guts Pokémon. Makuhita slams itself against thick trees in order to strengthen its body. Large numbers of snapped trees can be found wherever this Pokémon establishes its nest.**"

Zack was just about to send Pidgey out to attack, when he saw just how exhausted the bird Pokémon had become; in his state he might lose the next battle. "Good job out there Pidgey," Zack said as he withdrew his Pokémon. He threw out his last Poké Ball, releasing Duskull. "Makuhita, use Arm Thrust." The Makuhita ran toward Duskull, drawing his arm back, before thrusting it forward. But nothing happened; the Makuhita's arm passed through Duskull as though he wasn't there at all. The Makuhita tried again, but the attack still had no effect on the ghost Pokémon.

What Coach said had been true- fighting types couldn't hurt ghost types. But was the opposite true? There was only one way to find out. "Duskull, use Night Shade!" After a moment, a black beam shot from Duskull's eye and hit the Makuhita; Makuhita staggered back until the beam faded, causing several black wisps to rise up out of his body.

"Makuhita, use Rock Tomb." Makuhita punched the ground, pulling up a large stone from the floor and throwing it at Duskull. The attack hit with a tremendous impact, but Duskull was able to recover quickly. "Duskull, hit it with a Faint Attack!" Duskull rushed toward Makuhita, but disappeared before he made contact. Makuhita looked around uncertainly, until Duskull suddenly appeared from behind and rammed into him. Makuhita barely flinched; it turned and tried to sucker punch Duskull, but its fist simply phased through the ghost Pokémon. Zack wasn't sure how to proceed- he wasn't familiar with ghost Pokémon, so he had no idea what moves they knew. But he did remember something, from a Pokémon battle he'd seen on TV.

"Duskull, use Astonish!" Duskull let out a horrible shriek; Makuhita immediately brought up his hands to cover its ears, with Zack and Braun following suit. Makuhita fell to his knees, unable to block out Duskull's painful cry; the noise stopped after a few moments, but the opposing Makuhita did not rise back to his feet right away. Zack had only a few moments before Makuhita recovered- with any luck, they would be all he needed. "Duskull, use Night Shade again!" Duskull fired another black beam from his eye; it struck the Makuhita again, who staggered and fell onto his back. When the beam faded, Makuhita tried to rise to his feet again, but failed and fell still.

Braun sighed as he held up a Poké Ball. "Return, Makuhita." The downed Pokémon was returned to its Poké Ball. "You have defeated all of my Pokémon," Braun said, as he walked toward Zack. "This battle is yours." Zack recalled his Duskull as well. "For defeating me, you have earned this- the Breaker Badge." He reached into his gi once more, pulling out a very small object roughly the size of a large ring- Zack immediately identified it as a badge when Braun handed it to him. The badge was brown, and shaped like a hand poised to deliver a karate chop. "You've shown me that I still have much to learn, about _all_ Pokémon. You are strong, but there is room for you to grow stronger still. There are other gyms here in Argus; you should travel to each one, and test your might against the other Gym Leaders." Braun turned away. "The closest gym is in Grandoak City- I would recommend that you travel there. …I look forward to the day when I can test the strength of my Pokémon against yours once again."

Zack pinned the Breaker Badge to one of the straps of his backpack; with nothing else to do, Zack left the gym. It had been some time since Zack had battled a Trainer, and the first time he had ever battled a Gym Leader. The battle had taken a much larger toll on his Pokémon than he had expected; he'd have to take them to a Pokémon Center to recover. So, Zack began wandering the streets in search of the local Pokémon Center. It didn't take him too long to find one, and he entered. To his surprise, the inside of the Pokémon Center was almost empty, except for a nurse standing behind the counter. He approached.

"Hello, welcome to our Pokémon Center," the nurse said. "We can heal your Pokémon to perfect health."

"Hey there," Zack replied. "I need my Pokémon healed up." He took his three Poké Balls and placed them on the counter.

"Certainly- I'll just need to take your Pokémon for a few moments." The nurse gathered up the Poké Balls and placed them on a tray, before sliding the tray into a large machine next to the counter. While he was waiting for his Pokémon to heal, Zack asked, "Can you tell how to get to the ferry? I need to get to the main island."

"Of course. The ferry is down by the docks- just head to the right after you leave the Pokémon Center and you'll find them. The ferry leaves for the main island every half hour." A musical chime sounded from the machine. "Hold on just a second." "You're Pokémon are fully healed- thank you for waiting." She bowed. "We hope to see you again soon."

Zack took back his Poké Balls. "Thank you," he said before leaving the Pokémon Center. He followed the nurse's directions- eventually, he came to a small wooden pier extending out over the water. There was only one boat anchored by the pier- presumably, this was the ferry. He approached a man sitting at the edge of the boat and asked, "Excuse me, is this the ferry to the main island?"

The man looked back. "As a matter of fact, it is. And you're in luck- I'll be leaving in just a few minutes. Climb aboard." Zack stepped down onto the deck of the boat. "I'm guessing you'll be the only person needing a lift right now- follow me." Zack followed the man to a small cabin on the boat's deck- inside was a wheel and several levers and buttons, presumably responsible for controlling the boat. The man began operating the controls, and before long, he was slowly guiding the boat away from the docks and toward an island rising up far in the distance above the open sea. With a simple push of a lever, the boat began rapidly speeding across the sea, toward the island.

As the boat skimmed across the water, the captain said, "Hey kid, I see that you have a Pokégear. Do you have a Radio Card too?"

"Yeah, I have a Radio Card. You want to listen to the radio?"

"Can you tune it to 101.3?"

"Sure." Zack tuned his Pokégear to the station the captain had asked for. At once, a voice from his Pokégear began to say "…lcome back to NCR, Argus's 24-hour news network, with your host Jack Ryder. Returning to our top story today, a bank robbery in Drakefort City was foiled early this morning by local Gym Leader Hideki Sato. Police are currently continuing investigations, but believe that the robbery was conducted by members of the infamous criminal group, the Remnants. Longtime listeners will remember that the Remnants split from crime syndicate Team Rocket during the latter's breakup in the Johto region four years ago. More details on this story will be provided as we receive them…"

"Team Rocket?" Zack asked. The name sounded familiar, but he could quite remember where he heard it before. "Who are they?"

"That's a name I haven't heard in a while," the captain replied. "You're pretty young, so I don't blame you if you've never heard of them. Team Rocket was a nasty group that worked up in the Kanto region, stealing people's Pokémon and the like. But back in 1998, a kid managed to beat their leader, a guy named Giovanni, and the group broke up. But then, they tried to make a comeback three years later, over in the Johto region. Their top brass got beaten again, and the team broke for good after that."

"Okay. But what about these other guys- the Remnants?"

"Well, back when Team Rocket was breaking up, some high ranking official- a guy who calls himself Zero- gathered a whole bunch of followers and they split from the main team, started calling themselves the Remnants. They've been popping up all over the place over the last four years, but in the last few months they've been focusing on Argus. People are worried that they're trying to establish a base here, and for good reason- the Remnants are worse than Team Rocket ever was."

"How are they worse?"

"They might not attack as often as Team Rocket did, but they're much more violent when they do. Bank robberies, kidnappings, ransoms… people think they're even responsible for a few murders, but there's nothing really linking the Remnants to them." He paused briefly. "It isn't something that you need to worry about though. Watch this."

He grabbed a chain and pulled it, causing a loud horn to sound outside the cabin; in response, several Magikarp leapt high out of the water. "That's always good to get a laugh out of the tourists," the captain said. He then looked intently out the cabin window. "Uh oh, it looks like one of the Magikarp jumped onto the deck again. Can you go take care of it, kid? I'm a little busy at the moment."

"Uh… sure," Zack replied, standing up. Sure enough, through the window he could see a Magikarp flopping weakly on the deck of the boat.

"Just grab it and toss it back in the water. And try not to fall off." Zack exited the cabin; he then inched his way toward where the Magikarp was laying. As he drew close, the Magikarp laid still, staring blankly up at him; just as Zack was about to pick it up, it jumped, slamming into his chest and knocking him over. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw something fall onto the deck of the ship- one of the empty Poké Balls from his backpack. He began to reach for it; however, before he could grab it, the Magikarp leapt up again, and seemed to deliberately land on the Poké Ball. It was pulled inside- the red light on the ball's front came on, before fading away almost immediately. The ball then vanished from the deck.

Zack couldn't believe what he had just seen. He had always heard stories about how dumb Magikarp could be, and he had even seen some examples for himself, but he had never, _ever_ seen a Magikarp deliberately let itself be captured. He had never even heard a story where _any_ Pokémon let itself get caught without a fight. Now granted, it made his job just a little easier, and Professor Cypress probably would want to have a look at it for his research… but a Magikarp? Literally any Pokémon would have been an improvement. But, he supposed he'd just have to make the best of the situation, and with a sigh, he stood up and headed back to the cabin.

"You know," the captain began as Zack reentered the cabin, "I've heard stories about Pokémon choosing their Trainers, but I never believed them until today." He paused for a moment before saying, "Someone's calling you."

The captain was right- someone was calling his Pokégear. "Hello? Hello, Zack?" The person at the other end of the line didn't sound like Professor Cypress. So Zack asked, "Who is this?"

"This is Giles. I'm Professor Cypress's research assistant."

"Where's Professor Cypress?"

"He left earlier this morning to conduct fieldwork, and he won't be back for a few days. Until then, I'll be examining the Pokémon you and Megan catch. Now let's see… you've caught a Magikarp. Now they're fairly common in the ocean surrounding Argus, but- oof!" There was a loud slap, followed by the sound of breaking glass. Zack heard a brief struggle before Giles returned to the phone. "Well, your Magikarp is certainly a good deal livelier than others I've handled before. And a good deal stronger too- I think she might have loosened one of my teeth. I'm sending her back now. Be sure to keep an eye on her- she might be close to evolving."

Giles hung up. A Poké Ball appeared on the floor of the cabin a few moments later. As Zack picked it up, the captain asked, "Important business?"

"Yeah," Zack replied. "you could say that. I have to head to the main island because of it."

"Well, don't worry, we'll be dropping anchor is Seaveil Town in just a few more minutes."


	5. Seaveil Town

**Chapter V: Seaveil Town**

Roughly five minutes later, the boat dropped anchor at a dock at the edge of a small town. "Alright, we're here," The captain said. "Seaveil Town."

"Thanks for the ride," Zack said as the two exited the cabin. "If you don't mind me asking, do you know how to get to Grandoak City?"

"Yeah- from here, head west down Route 53, then take a left and go south on Route 55. That should take you right to Grandoak City. If you reach a place called Magnolia Town, you followed Route 53 too far."

"Thanks." Zack stepped off the boat and onto the pier.

"It's no problem. If you ever need a ride back to Helios Island, just let me know." The captain returned to the boat's cabin. Zack looked out over the sea- he could just barely make out Garnet City at the edge of the island far in the distance. The sky had turned from a bright blue to shining orange- with so little daylight left, it wouldn't be wise to head out to Grandoak City. His gaze lingered for a few moments, before he turned away from the ocean and toward the setting sun, heading into the heart of the town. On the way he passed a sign that read, "Seaveil Town: A town that sleeps in ocean mists."

Zack found the Pokémon Center a few moments later at the heart of the small town. He entered- unlike the Pokémon Center in Garnet City, there were a few people inside, all gathered around a TV showing some kind of news program. Zack walked past them and toward the front counter.

"Hello," the nurse behind the counter said, "and welcome to the Pokémon Center. We can heal your Pokémon to perfect health.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could stay here for the night," Zack replied.

"Oh, of course. You'll need this." The nurse handed him a key labeled "#6." She then said, "Your room is up on the second floor. You can use the staircase behind the counter to get there."

"Thanks." Zack rounded the counter and climbed up the staircase behind. It led up to a narrow walkway that ran around the edge of the Pokémon Center- Zack could see the lobby below by looking down over the railing. Heading to the right of the staircase, he came across a room labeled "#6;" he used his key to unlock the door and stepped inside. The room beyond was fairly small, about half the size of his bedroom. Other than two beds with a nightstand in-between them, and a small window built into the far wall, it was empty. It didn't seem to have any kind of amenities either, not even a bathroom. But Zack supposed it was alright as he sat down on one of the beds. After all, he would only be staying for one night.

He reached into his bag and released all of his Pokémon. "Okay everyone, gather 'round. There's something I want to show you." Zack unpinned the badge from his backpack strap, and then held it out for his Pokémon to see.

"You see this, guys?" He asked. "You earned it. I can't tell you how proud I am of all of you." He pinned the badge on his backpack again. "Well, there are six more gyms here in Argus- that means there are six more badges we can earn. What do you guys think? Should we go after them?"

Cyndaquil nodded and replied "Cyndaquil!" Pidgey looked up at Zack and nodded as well, chirping a few times at him. Duskull said excitedly "Duskull, Duskull!" Magikarp flopped on the floor and said weakly "…karp."

"I figured you guys would say something like that. So it's settled- we head out for the gym in Grandoak City first thing tomorrow morning." Zack took his shoes off. "Well, we should get some sleep- goodnight everyone. Magikarp, I should probably get you back in your Poké Ball." He recalled Magikarp to his Poké Ball and set it on a small nightstand next to the bed.

Zack hadn't packed his pajamas- as a matter of fact, Zack hadn't packed any extra clothes at all. Again, he supposed it was alright- if he really had to, he could stop somewhere and buy some more. "Well, goodnight guys." He looked over to see that his Pokémon (minus Magikarp) had climbed up onto the other bed, already asleep. He smiled. "See you in the morning." He rolled over, and before long, fell asleep as well.

* * *

><p>"Quil? Cyn-da… Quil. Cyndaqul!" Zack then felt something poke his face a few times. He opened his eyes, to see Cyndaquil and Pidgey sitting on his chest, with Duskull floating above them. "Duskull?" he asked when he saw Zack awaken.<p>

"Oh, hey guys," Zack said as he sat up- both Pidgey and Cyndaquil jumped off his chest to the foot of the bed. "I didn't think you'd wake up so early." The room was filled with light from the morning sun. He yawned and said, "Well, there's no point in waiting around- let's head for Grandoak City." He put on his shoes, called his Pokémon back to their Poké Balls, and left the room.

Zack stopped by the counter downstairs before leaving the Pokémon Center. "Good morning," the nurse said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Zack replied, handing his room key back to the nurse.

"Thank you." The nurse bowed. "We hope to see you again!"

Zack left the Pokémon Center- to his surprise, he saw that the small town was shrouded in a thick blanket of fog. Undeterred, Zack left the town after a quick glance at his map and headed west down Route 53, following the instructions the ferry captain had given him. As he walked, the thick mist gradually dissipated, until he could see the surrounding countryside clearly. Zack suddenly became aware of the sound of footsteps coming from behind- he looked back, and saw a fairly old man in a black tracksuit jogging up the path. Zack was rather surprised- though he had only been traveling for a few days, he hadn't seen anyone on the Routes between the cities. The man passed Zack and continued down the path before taking a left, heading towards a dark tunnel at the base of a large, forbidding mountain some distance away. According to a nearby sign, the left path led to "Route 54/Prometheus Tunnel/Keystone City."

Zack was just about to continue on his way down the road when he saw something a few seconds later that caused him to stay. A few moments after the jogging man entered the tunnel, two figures dressed in black emerged from some nearby bushes and followed him into the tunnel. Zack got a very bad feeling as soon as he saw the black figures, and headed down the left path to follow them.

A few minutes later, Zack stood at the mouth of the tunnel- from deep within, he could hear the echoes of what sounded like a struggle. He entered- the path inside the tunnel was narrow and winding, but Zack pressed forward regardless. As he progressed, the echoes became clearer, until somewhere up ahead, he could hear a woman shouting, "…don't give me that! You have money- you know it, I know it! And the sooner you give it to us, the more likely it is you'll walk away from this alive!" The voice grew louder as he walked forward, until he eventually reached what sounded like the source. Cautiously, he peered around a nearby wall of rock.

Up ahead, he could see three people. One of them was the jogging man he'd seen earlier, being held by the scruff of his shirt by a woman wearing an all-black outfit. A man, also in an all-black outfit, stood nearby with his back turned, presumably acting as a lookout. Zack couldn't help but notice that the woman had a large red R emblazoned on the front of her outfit. Zack remembered what the ferry captain had said yesterday- was it possible that these two were members of that criminal group, the Remnants?

"I'm starting to lose my patience!" the woman yelled. "Give me the money, _now!_"

"I'm telling you," the jogging man said, "I don't have any money!"

"The owner of the Ultra-Luxe doesn't have any money? Yeah, and I'm Knuckles the Echidna," the man replied.

"Look," the woman said, "I'm getting really tired of you lying to us. Give us your money, or we hurt you… _badly_."

At this, Zack decided to step out into the open; the woman took notice of him first, followed by the two men. "You should go home, kid," the woman said. "This isn't any of your business."

"I think I can decide that for myself," Zack replied, with a bit more bravado than he actually felt at the moment; facing down a pair of criminals definitely hadn't been on his agenda for today. To maintain the act, he continued, "By the way, I like your costume." He eyed the exposed skin between the woman's miniskirt and her boots, letting out a mocking wolf-whistle.

The woman stared at Zack in surprise for a few moments, before becoming extremely angry. She covered the exposed area and growled, "Grr… why you little-"

The man laughed. "Oh man… I don't know about you, but I like this kid already!"

The woman pointed at the man. "_Shut up, Mike!_" She then pulled a Poké Ball from her belt. "I'm gonna show you what happens when you mess with the Remnants!"

The woman tossed out her Poké Ball, releasing a Zubat. Zack was just about to send out Cyndaquil when he heard another of his Poké Balls open, releasing Magikarp. The woman stared at it for a second, before bursting out laughing. "You can't be serious!" She laughed. "What in the world do you think you're going to do with that!" Magikarp angrily said, "Karp!" and suddenly jumped forward with incredible speed, slamming into the Zubat. Both Magikarp and the Zubat fell to the ground; Magikarp flopped away almost at once, while the Zubat took several seconds to take to the air again.

"Zubat, use Supersonic!" The Zubat let out a screech aimed at Magikarp- however, the fish was able to flop out of the way, leaving only a shallow indent in the cave floor. "Um… Magikarp, use… Splash?" Zack wasn't entirely sure what would happen next; to his surprise, Magikarp launched herself toward the Zubat, hitting it dead center before both fell to the ground again. Magikarp flopped away; the Zubat did not, lying motionless on the ground.

The woman could only stare at her downed Zubat in shock. As she recalled it, she spluttered, "I- What… how- how did… _Mike! _I need some help here!" The man- Mike- stood up from the rock he had been sitting on. "Alright alright, just hold on a sec, Karen." He approached Zack, taking a Poké Ball from his belt. "Look kid, I don't hold anything against you… I actually think you're kinda funny, and you have a good eye for ladies too." The woman threw a rock at him, hitting him in the shoulder. "Ow… but I have my orders. And I can't let you stop me from carrying them out."

He threw out his Poké Ball, releasing a Rattata. Zack recalled Magikarp and sent out Cyndaquil in her place. "Rattata, use Bite!" The Rattata charged and sank its teeth in Cyndaquil's side; almost immediately, the flames on Cyndaquil's back flared up, driving back the Rattata. "Cyndaquil, use Ember!" Cyndaquil spat a fireball at the Rattata, but the mouse Pokémon was able to easily avoid the attack. Rattata use Quick Attack!" The Rattata seemed to disappear; before it reappeared however, Cyndaquil curled up defensively, completely surrounding itself with fire. When the Rattata reappeared, it charged headfirst into the fire. It jumped back, but it was apparent that it had been badly burned. "Cyndaquil, Tackle it!" Cyndaquil charged, slamming into the injured Rattata- it was knocked back some distance, and made no attempt to get back on its feet.

Mike recalled his Rattata. "Oh, um… I guess I should've trained my Pokémon a bit more," he said, scratching his head.

Karen yelled. "Oh you're useless, Mike! And now we're out of Pokémon! You know what that means, don't you?"

"Uh… yeah…" Mike said. A few moments later, he turned and ran, yelling, "_Maybe we'll fight some other time bye!_"

"What? Mike, you coward! Come back here!" She turned to follow him, but stopped to point at Zack. "I'll make you regret this! Maybe not today, but soon!" She then ran after him.

A few moments later, Zack noticed the jogging man getting back on his feet. "Thank you for rescuing me, young man," he said. "There's no telling what those ruffians might have done if you hadn't shown up."

"It wasn't any problem," Zack replied.

"I only wish there was a way that I could compensate you for your services… but at the very least, I can give you this." The man reached into his pocket, and pulled out some sort of card at the end of a long lanyard. "This is a pass that will let you enter the VIP section of the Ultra-Luxe resort in Keystone City. There, I can give you more… adequate compensation for your services. Of course, I don't mean to put any pressure on you- you can stop by the resort at any time."

"Thanks," Zack said as he took the pass.

"If it's alright with you, I was hoping you could tell me your name."

"My name is Zack."

"I see. You can call me Mr. Desmond. I'm the owner of the Ultra-Luxe. I do hope that we can meet again, Zack." Mr. Desmond began to walk away, headed deeper into the tunnel.

Zack stood alone in the cave, unsure of what to do next. He had already made plans to venture to Grandoak City, and challenge the Gym Leader there. There was also Professor Cypress's research, which Zack was supposed to be assisting him with. But he couldn't lie- he was very curious about the kind of "compensation" this Mr. Desmond would provide. So, he ran deeper into the tunnel, calling out, "Mr. Desmond! Mr. Desmond, wait up!"

He caught up with Mr. Desmond a few moments later. "Oh, Zack," he said. "Is there something you needed to tell me?"

"I want to go with you to Keystone City."

"You aren't under any further obligation to protect me. And as I said, there's no need to rush to Keystone City for your compensation."

"Well it isn't like I have anything better to do," Zack lied.

"…Very well. We should hurry to Keystone City- more of those ruffians may be lurking somewhere nearby."

As the two walked through the tunnel, Mr. Desmond said, "I can't help but notice you have a gym badge- that one is from Garnet City's gym, if I'm not mistaken. Tell me, are you undertaking the Gym Leader challenge?"

"Yeah, but that's not the main reason why I'm travelling out here."

"Then what reason might that be?"

"Well, have you heard of someone named Professor Cypress?"

"The professor researching the Pokémon re-integration? Yes, I've heard of him?"

"I suppose you could call me one of his research assistants."

"What is it you do for the professor?"

"I capture Pokémon for him to inspect. It lets him know how well the Pokémon are adapting here."

"I see. That's quite a daunting task for one as young as yourself."

"It's nothing I can't handle…" Their conversation continued until the two reached the edge of Keystone City.


	6. Keystone City

**Author's Note: I've posted a map of the Argus Islands on my Deviantart account. If you want to take a look, you can find it here: destructomation****. deviantart. com/#/d45nttn (remove the spaces before trying to go there- I can't put in the link directly for some reason)****. I made it mostly for my own reference, but I figured that posting it would help readers get their bearings. Anyway, on with the story...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter VI: Keystone City<strong>

Before Zack knew it, he was standing at the edge of a large city. The city easily dwarfed Olivine City, and was packed with countless tall buildings. Zack stood staring up at them in amazement-Mr. Desmond was much less awed by the sight, and continued onward without Zack. Zack hurried to catch up with him. "It isn't far to the resort now," Mr. Desmond said. "It should be right around this next corner." They turned left at the next street, to one of the most amazing sights Zack had ever seen.

In front of Zack, a massive, pure white tower rose high into the air. It stood alone, set apart from the other buildings of the city. A massive complex surrounded the tower, fenced off from the rest of the world; dozens of pools, water rides, and the beach were contained within, and hundreds of people milled about. Plastered to the side of the tower were two massive golden words that read simply, "Ultra-Luxe." It was almost literally what Zack imagined when he pictured a luxury resort.

"Impressive, I know," Mr. Desmond said. "There is a reason the Ultra-Luxe has been named the world's best five-star resort for seventeen years in a row." Mr. Desmond continued forward, with Zack following. They approached a guardhouse at the edge of the gate; as Mr. Desmond passed by, the guard inside said, "Good morning, Mr. Desmond." However, as Zack tried to pass, the guard stepped out to block his way.

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't allow you on the resort without a pass," the guard said. Zack pulled the VIP pass Mr. Desmond gave him and showed it to the guard; after inspecting it for a moment, the guard steeped aside and said, "Alright, you can go in."

Zack hurried to join Mr. Desmond. "I have to apologize for that," Mr. Desmond said. "I'll speak with the security staff, see if they'll let you come and go as you please, but you should still hold onto that pass." They crossed the complex, and entered the tower. The lobby of the tower was just as lavish as the exterior, in a pure white and gold. There was only two features of the lobby- a large fountain in the center, and a reception desk at the far side, with the Ultra-Luxe name set into it in gold. As Zack and Mr. Desmond passed by, the receptionist said, "Good morning, Mr. Desmond. A writer from _Travel Monthly_ called earlier asking for an interview- should I approve?"

"Send up his number to my office in ten minutes- I'll speak to him directly."

"Very good, sir." Mr. Desmond continued on to a row of elevators next to the desk, with Zack following. The two stepped into an open one- inside, Mr. Desmond pushed several buttons in a rather specific order. As soon as he finished, the doors closed, and the elevator began to move up- a minute later, the elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal a large office overlooking the sea. Zack then followed Mr. Desmond to a desk near the center of the room, and waited patiently as he searched through several drawers. After a few moments, Mr. Desmond pulled a very large stack of cash from one of his drawers.

"Here you are," he said as he held out the stack of cash. "I believe this should be adequate compensation for your services."

"Uh, thanks…" Zack said as he took the money and pushed it into his pocket. Mr. Desmond then stood up from his chair and walked toward the large window at the rear of the office. As he looked out, he let out a heavy sigh, before saying, "Come over here, Zack. There's something I want you to see." Zack walked to the window and looked out as well. Far below, near the base of the tower, he could see the beach. Far in the distance, on the left side, he could see an island- Helios Island, as the ferry captain had called it, the island he had come from. In the very center of the window, he could see a red and black oil rig, sitting silently above the water.

"You see it out there, don't you?" Mr. Desmond asked. Zack asked in reply, "You mean the oil rig?"

"Indeed. That oil rig has been in Keystone Bay for over fifty years now- it's older than the Ultra-Luxe, and almost as old as Keystone City itself. But there's a problem- the oil deposit in the bay ran dry only a decade after the rig was built; the company that built it, Poseidon Energy, went bankrupt and abandoned it a short time later. The rig has been sitting there ever since, doing nothing but being an eyesore."

"Hasn't anyone tried to get rid of it?" Zack asked.

"Of course. I have been trying to get that old rig torn down for years now, but roughly twenty years ago a group of squatters claimed it as their own. In spite of all the offers I've made them, they and their 'leader,' a man by the name of Eckhardt, refuse to vacate it. They have no real claim to the rig, but I can't simply tear it down with them still aboard- that could cause a whole host of problems for me and the resort."

"Well, is there something I can do to help you?"

Several moments passed before Mr. Desmond replied, "As a matter of fact, there is. Eckhardt refuses to negotiate with me anymore- perhaps he'd be more willing to speak to someone sent on my behalf." Mr. Desmond paused for a moment. "There's a net that surrounds the beach in front of the resort. I'm going to send a boat to the south end, and have it take you to the oil rig. You should head down there now." He pulled a business card from his pocket and gave it to Zack. "That card has my number- give me a call after you speak to Eckhardt."

Mr. Desmond returned to his desk and picked up a phone. As Zack left the office, he heard him say, "Hello? …It's Desmond. I need someone to bring a boat to the edge of the south net… I'm sending someone to speak to Eckhardt… no, don't send Daniel… well last time he tore a hole in the net with the motor; it cost a fortune to get it replaced…"

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Zack found the boat sent for him, and was speeding off to the oil rig. The boat reached the base of the rig only a few minutes after that; the great steel structure loomed overhead, blocking out the sun. "Here we are," the boat driver said. "Hold on for just a minute." He sounded a horn; a moment later, somebody on a platform above shouted, "Okay, just a second! Hold on!" A few moments later, a very long ladder dropped down from above, slashing down into the water near the boat. After checking if the ladder was secure, Zack began to climb it up to the platform.<p>

He reached the top of the platform about a minute later. At the top, a young man was waiting for him; he had white hair, and wore a doctor's white coat. "Hey there," the young man said. "It's been a while since any visitors stopped by. I'm Aaron."

"Hi Aaron, I'm Zack," Zack replied.

"Nice to meet you, Zack. So, what brings you to Aquapolis?"

"Aquapolis? That's what you guys call this place?"  
>"Well yeah. I mean, we can't go around calling this place 'the oil rig' forever."<p>

"I guess that's true. Anyway, I'm looking for somebody named Eckhardt- do you know where I can find him?"

"Yeah, he's on the floor above us- I can take you to him. But are you sure you want to go see him right away? You don't want to see the rest of the rig first?"

"No that's alright- I need to talk to him about something important." So the two began wto walk by the edge of the platform, with Aaron leading. As they walked, Zack asked, "So Aaron, what exactly do you do here?"

"I'm Aquapolis's resident Pokémon doctor. That's my office right there." Aaron pointed to a nearby door marked, "Clinic." "It might not look like much, but the equipment I have is just as good as anything you'd find in a Pokémon Center." They climbed up a rap to the next floor, before stopping in front of a large hatch- a crude sign next to it read "Gym." Aaron turned the valve on the hatch and pulled it open, before he and Zack stepped inside.

The first thing Zack saw was a regulation Pokémon battlefield in the center of the room. It was transparent, and seemed to be built on top of a large pool; the sides were exposed, presumably to allow Pokémon to swim in the water underneath the field. The rest of the gym seemed to still be under construction. Numerous standing lights illuminated the gym, and the walls save for a few scattered panels were missing, exposing numerous metal supports within. In the far left corner, Zack could see someone working in the shadows.

"Hey Eckhardt!" Aaron shouted. "There's some guy here who wants to see you!" The shadowy man looked over but didn't reply. Aaron then said to Zack, "Well, I'll let you talk to him. Stop by my office if you need your Pokémon rested up. See you around." Aaron then left the gym. After a few moments, Zack stepped forward. "Um… Mr. Eckhardt?" Zack asked. "I'm-"

"Go away," Eckhardt said. "And tell Mr. Desmond I'm done negotiating."

"Wait, how do you know Mr. Desmond sent me?"

"The only reason you're here is because Mr. Desmond sent you." Eckhardt stepped into the light- he was tall, middle-aged with dark hair, and wore a white shirt, overalls, and a welding mask. "You can tell him that the oil rig's here to stay- I've got a letter from the Pokémon League that says they're sending a representative to inspect the gym here in two weeks." Desmond pulled a piece of paper from inside his jacket- the logo at the top confirmed it was indeed an official letter from the League. "As soon as the representative gives his approval, my gym will become Argus's eighth officially licensed gym."

Surprised, Zack asked, "Wait, you're trying to start a gym here?"

"Of course- the only thing I've ever wanted in life is to start my own gym. And this is the perfect place- if getting a licensed gym is what it takes to keep it here, then so be it."

"…Of all the places you could've chosen to start a gym, why an abandoned oil rig?"

"A floating platform in the middle of the sea- I can't really think of a better place to raise water type Pokémon."

"You know a lot of people I knew wanted to take on the Elite Four and become a Champion. But you only want to be a Gym Leader? Why's that?"

"Why? Well, for me it started back in the Hoenn region, in my hometown of Sootopolis City. I learned everything I know about Pokémon from the Gym Leader there, a man named Wallace- though from what I've heard, he isn't a Gym Leader anymore. His love of water type Pokémon rubbed off on me as well, and when I was old enough, I headed out to learn everything I could about water Pokémon and start my own gym, just like Wallace. Along the way, I met other people who loved water types just as much as I did, and who wanted to find a place where we could live alongside our Pokémon; so we started traveling together looking for a place. Well one day, I get a call from one of the people I met, who tells me about this old oil rig- I talk to the others, we all vote on it, and then we move here."

"And Mr. Desmond has been trying to get you to leave since you came here, right?"

"That's right- he's done everything but tear down the rig trying to get us to leave. But if I can pass this inspection, then the rig can stay. All we want is just to live with our Pokémon- I mean, you can understand that, can't you?"

"Yeah, I can understand that." Zack had heard plenty of stories about people forming communities to live with their Pokémon in peace- some prospered, but most didn't.

"I'm glad you do. You know, you're a lot more reasonable than the other people Mr. Desmond sent over here." Eckhardt paused for a moment. "Say you're a Pokémon Trainer, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, since I want to become a Gym Leader, I've been training with my Pokémon to make them stronger. I've battled everyone here on the rig plenty of times, but I want to test my skills against someone new, to see how I need to improve. So what do you say- you want to battle?"

"Sure," Zack said, pulling a Poké Ball from his backpack. "Let's see what you're made of."

"Well, aren't we confident," Eckhardt said, drawing a Poké Ball of his own. "Go, Staryu!" Eckhardt released a short, star-shaped Pokémon. "Wow," Zack said as he pulled out his Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon. "**Staryu- the Star Shape Pokémon. Staryu is capable of regenerating from any injury as long as its central core remains unharmed. At night, the core of this Pokémon flashes in a red light.**"

"Come on," Eckhardt said. "I thought we were supposed to be battling!"

Zack threw out his Poké Ball, releasing his Pidgey. "Staryu, use Water Gun!" Staryu leaned forward, and suddenly sprayed a jet of water from its topmost arm. The jet of water struck Pidgey, pushing him back- he recovered soon after, and shook off the excess water. "Alright Pidgey, use Quick Attack!" Pidgey spread its wings before suddenly disappearing, tackling the Staryu a few seconds later; the Staryu was pushed back, but remained standing. "Staryu, use Rapid Spin!" Staryu jumped toward Pidgey, spinning rapidly; Pidgey avoided the attack, but Staryu banked and came after Pidgey again. Pidgey took a direct hit from Staryu's attack and was tossed through the air, but managed to stop himself before he crashed into the gym's wall.

"Pidgey, use Gust!" Pidgey sent out a cyclone of wind, pushing back the Staryu, but again, it remained on its feet. "Staryu, use Flash!" A blinding white light shined from the Staryu's core, blinding both Zack and his Pidgey. He heard Eckhardt shout, "Staryu, use Rapid Spin again!" The light faded enough for Zack to see that Staryu slam into Pidgey, throwing him across the field.

Pidgey got to his feet slowly- he'd been badly beaten, and another of Staryu's attacks would likely knock him out. Zack would have to hope he got lucky with his next attack. "Pidgey, use Quick Attack!" Pidgey disappeared again, before slamming beak-first into the Staryu's core. The core flashed red, and the Staryu was pushed back as before. This time however, the Staryu teetered for a moment, before falling on its back, its core blinking on and off.

Eckhardt recalled the Staryu. "You're not too bad," he said, drawing another Poké Ball. "But let's see if you can keep this up." Eckhardt released his next Pokémon, a strange, round Pokémon swimming in the water by the battlefield. Again, Zack brought up his Pokédex. "**Wailmer-the Ball Whale Pokémon. Wailmer is capable of traveling across land by drawing in large volumes of water and bouncing over the ground like a ball. This Pokémon loses its stamina if its body becomes dried out.**" Zack recalled Pidgey, and sent out Duskull. "Duskull, use Night Shade!" Duskull fired a black beam from its eye, striking the Wailmer- it recoiled, but recovered quickly. "Alright Wailmer, hit it with Rollout!" Wailmer sucked in a large amount of water, and jumped up onto the battlefield; it then jumped at Duskull spinning rapidly. It slammed into Duskull; Duskull was pushed back, but it seemed that the Wailmer wasn't finished, as it turned and headed back to Duskull again. "Duskull, use Faint Attack!" Duskull faded away; the Wailmer, apparently not noticing the Duskull was gone, continued with its attack. Duskull suddenly appeared again, slamming into the Wailmer's side.

The Wailmer was pushed off its original path, and crashed into a nearby wall. It rolled away from the wall, wobbling all the while. "Oh man, Wailmer! You okay?" The Wailmer replied slowly, "Wail… mer…" Eckhardt than said, "Okay, Wailmer use Defense Curl!" Wailmer curled up tightly, releasing some water to make itself smaller. "Duskull, use Night Shade!" Duskull fired another black beam at Wailmer, but missed as the Wailmer began to roll back into the pool. Wailmer jumped high into the air, before splashing back down into the water, releasing a torrent of water that splashed over Duskull. Other than pushing him back slightly and getting him wet, it didn't seem to have much effect.

"Duskull, use Astonish!" Duskull let out a piercing shriek; Zack and Eckhardt covered their ears, and Wailmer dived under the water to block out the noise. Wailmer returned to the surface once the attack ended. "Wailmer, use Water Gun!" Wailmer sprayed a jet of water from his mouth- however, it took several moments, for the Wailmer to attack, and Duskull was able to avoid the jet with ease. The Wailmer must be close to fainting. "Alright Duskull, hit it with Night Shade!" Duskull fired his black eye-beam at Wailmer- it tried to pull back, but took a direct hit from the attack. The Wailmer rolled on its side in the water and said weakly, 'Wail…"

Eckhardt recalled his downed Wailmer. "This is unacceptable," he said. "A Gym Leader can never be this easily defeated. It looks like I still have a lot to work on." He paused for a moment. "Uh… can you excuse me for just a moment?"

Eckhardt left the gym, returning a few minutes later. "Since I'm not an official Gym Leader yet, I can't hand out any badges, so you'll have to make do with this for now." He held up a red bottle cap- one that had apparently come from a bottle of Sun Cola- before handing it to Zack. Zack noticed that a safety pin had been glued to the inside of the cap. "You beat me fair and square," Eckhardt continued, "so it wouldn't be right to send you away with nothing."

"So…" Zack began, "you have any ideas on what you need to work on?"

"Well, I obviously need to toughen up my Pokémon a bit more. And it probably wouldn't hurt to add a few more to my team either. Anyway, thanks for the battle, Zack- don't forget to stop by after my gym gets licensed."

"Alright then, Eckhardt. I'll be seeing you, and good luck with your inspection." Zack opened the hatch and left the gym. He headed down the ramp he climbed up earlier, looking for the clinic Aaron had pointed out to him. Soon enough, he found it and entered. The inside of the clinic was small, with the far side being dominated by a counter and a large, complex machine. Aaron was there, doing some form of work on the machine. "Oh hey," Aaron said as Zack entered. "How'd things go with Eckhardt?"

"Things went alright, I suppose. We had a battle too- I managed to beat him."

"You beat him? Wow, then you must be a pretty strong Trainer. Eckhardt's been training his Pokémon for so long, he can beat anyone here on the rig in a Pokémon battle easily." He paused briefly. "Oh, you probably need your Pokémon healed up, don't you?"

"Yeah, that would be nice." Zack handed his Poké Balls to Aaron, who then placed them in a tray inside the machine. He pushed a button on the machine, causing a bright glow to shine from within. After a few seconds, Aaron said, "You know, I've heard a lot of interesting rumors about things on the islands. For instance, I heard that there's some abandoned mansion on Daedalus Island that's full of ghost Pokémon. Supposedly, bad things happen to people who go there, so you might want to steer clear of it." A bell sounded from the machine, much like one you'd hear when a microwave finished cooking something. Aaron retrieved the Poké Balls from the machine.

"Here you are. All your Pokémon are perfectly healthy." Aaron gave back Zack's Poké Balls, before saluting Zack. "Come back any time."

As Zack left the clinic, he remembered something rather important- he had to call Mr. Desmond. So, he brought out Mr. Desmond's business card, and dialed the number on it into his Pokégear. After a few rings, he heard Mr. Desmond's voice ask, "Hello? Who is this?"

Zack replied, "It's Zack."

"Oh, Zack. I was expecting you to call sooner. So, have you spoken to Eckhardt yet?"

"Yeah, I talked to him. Look I don't really know how to put this lightly, so I'll just say it. There's a representative from the Pokémon League coming to inspect a gym Eckhardt built here. He seems-"

"_What?_ How did he- what on earth- why would…" Mr. Desmond was silent for several moments, before saying, "I apologize for my outburst. I need some time to think about this. I'll call you later." Mr. Desmond hung up. Zack looked up from his Pokégear- far in the distance, he could see Keystone City stretched out in front of him. The sky was orange, and the sun was slowly sinking in the western sky, toward the city.

Zack looked down to the waters surrounding the rig, and realized that the boat that had taken him here was gone. There was no way he could swim back to Keystone City on his own, and as much as Zack trusted his Pokémon, he didn't trust them enough to be able to make the swim back while carrying him.

"Hey," Eckhardt said from behind. "Do you need a lift?"

"Yeah, thanks." Eckhardt dropped the ladder down to the water, and released his Wailmer. He then climbed down the ladder and hopped onto the whale Pokémon's back; Zack followed a few moments later. As Wailmer swam across the water, Eckhardt asked, "So Zack, what are you gonna do now?"

"Before I got pulled into all of this, I was on my way to Grandoak City. So I'll start heading there again."

"So you're collecting badges, are you?" Zack nodded. "Well, I can't take you all the way to Grandoak City, but at the very least I can get you back to the main island." A few minutes later, the Wailmer stopped near the edge of a long wooden platform a few inches above the water. "Here you go," Eckhardt said. Zack jumped up onto the platform. "Travel safely. And good luck with collecting badges, Zack."

"Good luck to you too, Eckhardt." Eckhardt and his Wailmer began to swim back to the oil rig. Zack looked on for a few moments, before turning away and heading back into the city.


	7. Grandoak City

**Chapter VII: Grandoak City**

Zack stayed at the local Pokémon Center for the night. The next morning, he departed from Keystone City, making his way back to Route 53. After about an hour of navigating through Prometheus Tunnel, Zack was finally, _finally_, back on track. So, with a sigh of relief, Zack set off down the road.

As he moved forward, Zack noticed something unusual- before, the countryside had been mostly flat, with only sparse pockets of plants. But now, he was walking through a massive thicket of trees so closely packed together, their branches blocked out the sky. He didn't remember passing any signs saying he was heading into a forest, like there had been before Ochre Forest- but unlike then, there was still a clear path for him to follow. After some time, Zack came to a fork in the road- one way led to a place called Magnolia Town, the other to Grandoak City. There was no agonizing over a decision- Zack took the left path, headed toward Grandoak City. As he walked, the vegetation seemed to be growing thicker than before, but Zack pushed on, determined to reach his destination.

Eventually, Zack came to a small town, nestled in a large clearing. A nearby sign read "Grandoak City: An Unspoiled Natural Paradise." What the sign said seemed to be true- the city was small, only about the size of Ochre Town, and surrounded on all sides by tall, healthy-looking trees. A large, dark mountain, the same one he passed under to reach Keystone City, rose high above the trees seemingly a short distance away. The sight was breathtaking, unlike anything Zack had seen in his time on Argus, or really _anywhere_, for that matter. As much as Zack would've liked to stand at the town's edge, gawking at the majesty of nature, he had come here for a reason; gradually, he focused his attention back on the town and entered the town, searching for the local gym.

Before long, Zack came across a building that seemed promising- a dome-like building constructed almost entirely of glass, like a greenhouse. The building had been built around, appropriately, the base of an absolutely enormous oak tree. A sign near the front entrance confirmed his initial suspicions: "Grandoak City Gym. Leader: Anya. The Elegant Princess of Nature." With confidence, Zack strode up to the front door and pulled the handle- the door rattled in its frame, but refused to open. He tugged the handle harder, but still, the door didn't budge. Thinking he made a simple mistake, Zack then pushed the door, but still, nothing happened.

"Anya's not here right now," someone behind him suddenly said. Zack turned, to see a very familiar-looking nerd, but a name escaped him until… "Coach?" Zack asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I followed you from Garnet City."

"What? Why?"

"Well, you're the first person in a while to actually listen to my advice, so the least I can do is give you advice about the other Gyms here in Argus. I figured you'd head here next, and… I was right."

"Okay… well, if the Gym Leader's not here, then where is she?"

"From what other people have told me, she went to the top of Mount Prometheus early this morning." He pointed up to the large mountain rising above the city.

"How do I get up there?"

"First, you'll need to go south through the nature preserve surrounding the city. After that, there's a route that can take you to a cable car station near the base of the mountain- the cable cars will take you close to the top, but you'll have to climb the rest of the way."

Zack was just about to head down to this nature preserve when something crossed his mind. So he turned back and asked, "Uh, Coach?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, have any other Pokémon Trainers been through here recently?"

"Just one- a girl with a blue tank-top and a Totodile. She was a pretty skilled Trainer; even with the disadvantage water types have to grass types, she still made beating Anya look easy. Why, is she a friend of yours?"

Zack's spirits rose. "Yeah, she is! Is she still here?"

"No, I'm afraid she left town early yesterday morning. Sorry." So, he'd just barely missed running into Megan again. And from the looks of things, she was out gathering badges too. He wished he could've gotten here sooner- they could've compared Pokémon, wished each other luck in collecting badges, and maybe even had a friendly battle. Zack couldn't help but feel disappointed by the news, and he said, "Oh, okay. I'm gonna go find Anya now."

Zack headed to the south end of the city. There, he found a trail, and a large sign that read simply, "Now Entering Grandoak Nature Preserve." As the only path leading to the south, Zack followed it. For some time, Zack walked down the narrow trail, nearly overgrown with trees and other vegetation; but soon, he came to a large clearing. He was immediately struck by the sheer beauty of his first glimpse of the reserve- the vibrant flowers and trees, the sounds of bird Pokémon singing in the trees overhead, and the occasional glimpse of a Pokémon scurrying through the underbrush. It was difficult to believe that there was a town not one hundred yards from where he was standing. But again, Zack wasn't here to sightsee, so he moved deeper into the reserve.

As Zack walked, he soon became keenly aware of the fact that something was following him. Suddenly, he heard a loud buzzing rapidly approaching from behind- he moved out of the way, but a green blur passed by and nicked his arm, drawing blood. The green blur stopped a few feet away, revealing itself to be a Scyther covered in numerous scars. It growled at him, scraping its blades against each other. Before Zack could react, the Scyther's wings began buzzing, and he rushed at him again- he was just barely able to avoid the attacking Pokémon. Zack drew a Poké Ball from his bag and threw it out, unconcerned with which Pokémon came out- as long as it was able to defend him, it would work just fine. To his relief, Cyndaquil emerged; the Scyther refocused its attention from Zack to his Pokémon, scraping its blades together.

"Alright Cyndaquil, use Ember!" Cyndaquil spat a fireball at the Scyther- however, the Scyther deemed to vanish before the fireball hit, reappearing a few feet away. It suddenly dashed forward, and struck Cyndaquil with the reverse side of its blade, sending the small Pokémon flying. She landed some distance away, and rose back to her feet slowly. There was no time to strategize however, as the Scyther was already moving in for another attack. When it was close, it thrust one of its blades at Cyndaquil; Cyndaquil just barely avoided the attack, and the Scyther's blade plunged deep into the ground. As it attempted to pull free, Zack shouted, "Cyndaquil, hit it with Ember!" Cyndaquil spat another fireball at the Scyther; this time, the fireball connected, leaving a large black scorch mark on its leg. The Scyther pulled its blade free and slowly turned to face Cyndaquil, an expression of pure rage on its face. Suddenly, it disappeared; it reappeared right in front of Cyndaquil, batting her into the air with the broad side of its blade. Then it swung both of its blades in an X shape, slashing the defenseless Cyndaquil. It finished by smashing Cyndaquil with the reverse side of its blade again, knocking her away; she rolled across the ground before coming to a stop, lying completely motionless.

"Oh no, _Cyndaquil!_" Zack rushed to his downed Pokémon; the Scyther continued to slowly advance on them. "Come on Cyndaquil, wake up!" Zack cried out, but the battered Pokémon wouldn't respond. Zack began to draw another Poké Ball from his backpack to distract the Scyther, when Cyndaquil began to stir, and slowly returned to her feet. Then, to Zack's shock, she began to slowly limp toward the Scyther. "Cyndaquil, you can't go back out there!" Zack shouted. "You're too badly hurt! We need to get out of here!" Cyndaquil shook her head and stood in front of Zack, shaking. Suddenly, Cyndaquil stood up on her hind legs, and cried out "_Cyndaquiiiiil!_" At that moment, Cyndaquil began to shine in a blinding light- Zack covered his eyes, unable to look directly at her.

When the light faded a few moments later, Zack saw that Cyndaquil had changed. The injuries she had suffered were gone, but there was more than just that. Cyndaquil was much larger now, twice as big as she had been before, with two plumes of fire on its body- one at the top of her head, and another on her back. She stood up on her back legs, the fire plumes burning bright, and growled "_Quilava._"

Zack could hardly believe his eyes- his Cyndaquil had finally evolved into a Quilava.

The Scyther seemed less than intimidated by this turn of events and dashed forward, its blades drawn back to strike. It swung down for a killing blow, but before the Scyther's attack could connect, Quilava seemed to disappear. The Scyther pulled itself free and looked around, but couldn't see the Quilava anywhere. Regardless, the Scyther raised its blade, setting its sights once again on Zack. But over the Scyther's shoulder, Zack saw what looked like a wheel of fire speeding towards them. The Scyther realized Zack's attention was focused elsewhere, and looked back as well. Too late- the Scyther took the full brunt of the attack, and was knocked off its feet. Quilava landed with a thump, the flames that had surrounded it suddenly burning out. The Scyther struggled to its feet, severe burns covering its back, but still, it refused to surrender or flee; it turned and swung its blades at Quilava with all its strength. Quilava avoided the attack with ease- the force of its swing threw the Scyther off-balance, leaving him wide-open to a counterattack… which is exactly what Quilava did, by spitting a fireball at it. Scyther stumbled back, but still it refused to admit defeat- it staggered forward a few steps, swinging its blades weakly, before falling to the ground face-first.

The Scyther might be down now, but when it recovered, there was no doubt that it would menace another hapless traveler. And Zack wasn't going to let that happen. He took an empty Poké Ball and threw it at the Scyther. It wobbled about slightly for a few moments, before falling still. The ball disappeared a few moments later, to be followed by a call to Zack's Pokégear a few moments later; he brought up the Pokégear to answer the call.

"Zack? Zack, are you there?" The voice at the other end wasn't Professor Cypress, but rather his aide, Giles.

"Yeah, I'm here," Zack replied. "I caught another Pokémon for you to look at, Mr. Giles."

"I can see that. Alright let's have a look…" There was the sound of a Poké Ball opening. "…Oh my, you caught a Scyther. Zack, are you near the Grandoak Nature Preserve by any chance?"

"Uh… yeah, I am. Why?"

"Well, the Grandoak Nature Preserve is a protected area- that means you're legally not allowed to catch wild Pokémon there. You didn't know before, so I'll let this slide this one time, but just keep that in mind as long as you're in the preserve."

"I will."

"Good. Now I'm going to take a look at your Scyther." There was silence for some time. "Hmm… normally Scyther travel in packs, but judging from the number of injuries this one has, I'd say that he's been fending for himself for quite some time. You should keep an eye on him- solitary Scyther tend to be much more aggressive than ones that are part of a pack. I'll send him back now."

Zack's Poké Ball returned a few moments later. Zack picked it up and stuffed it into his backpack, before turning his attention to his newly-evolved Pokémon; he ran towards her and picked her up, crying out, "I can't believe you finally evolved, Cyndaquil!" Quilava replied happily, "Quil!" Zack put Quilava back down a few moments later- not only was she bigger, but she was also a great deal heavier than before. "Well, I guess I can't really call you Cyndaquil anymore, can I?" Quilava shook her head. "Alright then, we should get going before any more show up. Come on, Quilava." With that, Zack and Quilava continued on their way.

Thankfully, if there were any other Scyther in the area, none came out to confront Zack and Quilava. Not long after the battle, the two came across something very unusual- a tall, near-vertical cliff, made from some type of coarse black rock. The only way forward was through a narrow canyon that cut through the cliff- this must have been the route to the base of the mountain Coach had mentioned. No plants grew either on the cliff face or in the canyon, a stark contrast to the lush vegetation of the preserve only a few feet away. Undaunted, Zack entered the canyon, followed by Quilava- the canyon was too narrow for the two to walk side-by-side. The canyon walls were smooth, unlike the cliff's face- from what Zack remembered in school, canyons like this were made over thousand years by flowing water wearing down the rock. After a few minutes, Zack noticed that the walls of the canyon seemed to be getting shorter; it took a few moments for him to realize that the walls weren't growing shorter, but that the ground was sloping upward.

Zack exited the canyon not long afterward, standing atop a large expanse of flat rock. Mount Prometheus, ever-present, loomed high above him a great distance away. Behind him, he could see the forest surrounding the preserve and Grandoak City. In front of him was a short path leading to a large square building- leading away from the building was a long line of tall metal poles that hadn't been visible from the preserve, running up the side of the mountain. A set of long black cables stretched between each pole, coming to an end at the building. Presenting his only way forward, Zack began to approach the cable car station.

Zack quickly noticed that there seemed to be no entrance to the building. As a matter of fact, the building was almost completely featureless- other than a locked door marked 'Maintenance Only," the only features were a few ticket machines built into the side of the building. Zack bought a ticket from one and walked around to the other side of the building- waiting for him was a cable car, swaying slightly as it hung by a short boarding platform. By the door of the car seemed to be some kind of scanner- when Zack held his ticket under it, it let out a short buzz and the door slid open. Once Zack had entered, the cable car door slid closed; after a moment, the car jolted slightly, before sliding smoothly up the mountain.

From the looks of things, it would take some time to reach the top of the mountain. But luckily, Zack knew the perfect way to pass the time. He brought up his Pokégear and searched. After a few moments, he heard Megan's voice ask, "Hello? Zack?"

"Hey Megan, guess where I am," Zack replied.

"Do I have to?"

"Fine, you don't have to guess. I'm in Grandoak City right now!"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, weren't you here a few days ago?"

"Wait, how do you know that? Are you stalking me? Oh, you _creep_!"

"_No_, I'm not stalking you! Coach told me you were here."

"Coach? …you mean that nerdy guy? I remember him- he was hanging around the gym waiting for you."

"Yeah, I ran into him earlier." Zack paused briefly. "So Megan… what are you doing right now?"

"Waiting for a ferry. I'm headed to Cirrosia City on the next island."

"Coach told me you beat the Gym Leader here. Congratulations."

"Thanks." A few moments passed, before Zack said, "Hey Megan, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What would you say if I asked if you wanted to meet up with me?"

"I'd have to say… of course. I'll tell you what- I'll wait for you here in Magnolia Town for a few days. Don't keep me waiting."

"I won't."

"Good. Anyway, I have to go- I'll see you soon, Zack."

"Yeah, see you around." He hung up. A few moments later, the cable car came to a halt at the station near the mountain peak. Zack disembarked from the cable car, and made his way up a lengthy flight of stone steps to the top of the mountain.

From his vantage point at the top of Mount Prometheus, Zack could see all the islands that made up Argus, and all the settlements that dotted them. In the northeast, he could see Helios Island; he saw Ochre Forest, and could even make out his hometown of Northspring. The island to the southwest had a unique landform- a mountain, neatly dividing it into two halves. The mountain was nowhere near as big as Mount Prometheus, but was still fairly large nonetheless. The island to the northwest was fairly nondescript, not having a distinct landform like a mountain or forest, though Zack thought he could see a large mansion by the western edge. There was no island to the southeast- all that was out there was a small black speck rising up from the ocean. It was tiny in comparison to the other islands, but it still must have been fairly large if Zack could see it at this distance. Beyond the islands and the black speck, Zack saw only a vast, empty sea.

There was only one other person on the mountain peak- a woman leaning against the railing that rimmed the mountaintop, staring out over the ocean. Zack couldn't see her face, but could see that she had short brown hair, and wore a forest green shirt and brown shorts. He couldn't be sure at his distance, but she seemed to be a bit taller than he was. This had to be Anya- other than her and Zack himself, there was literally nobody else on the mountain. Zack approached her.

The woman must have noticed him, because as he drew close, she asked, "It's such a nice view, isn't it?" She then turned to face him- Zack could now see that she had brown eyes, largely obscured by her long bangs, and a youthful face. Zack guessed she was only a few years older than him.

"Uh… yeah…" Zack replied," but I'm not here to sightsee." He then asked what he already knew. "You're Anya, aren't you?"

"That's me," she replied. She then said, "So, what brought you here, if it wasn't the view?"

"I'm here for _you_."

Anya laughed. "Is that so? Sorry, but you won't get me that easily- you'd have to take me out to dinner first, at the very least. Although…" She walked toward him, putting her hand on his cheek. "…for a handsome boy like you, I might be willing to make an exception."

Zack brushed her hand away, more than a little creeped out. "That's not what I meant. I'm here to challenge you in a Pokémon battle."

"Oh, I see…" she replied, visibly disappointed. "Well in that case, we'll have to head back to the gym." Anya began heading towards the staircase that led to the cable car.

"Wait," Zack began, "why can't we just battle here?"

"If it were up to me, that would be exactly what we'd do," she replied. "But out here, I'm just another Trainer- I don't have the right to hand out badges outside of my gym. Come on." She continued to the staircase. A few moments passed, before Zack shook his head and followed her.

A few minutes later, the two were aboard the cable car, heading to the base of the mountain. Zack and Anya sat in silence for several moments, before Anya said, "So… you know, I never did get your name."

"It's Zack," he replied.

"Zack, huh? You know Zack, you're the first person in a while to challenge me to a battle. Well, except for that girl who came here a few days ago. She was pretty brave to take on my grass Pokémon with her Totodile- and pretty skilled too, considering that she beat me on her first try."

Although she didn't look it, Megan was a very skilled Pokémon Trainer. Zack could attest to that- before the "incident," they'd battled often with Pokémon Professor Cypress let them borrow. In all those battles, not once had he ever managed to beat her. After a moment, he replied, "I know. She told me about it."

"Oh, so you know each other! Is she a girlfriend of yours?"

"What? No, it's not like that at all! We're just good friends, that's all."

"Huh, pity. Most boys I know would've had at least two by the time they reached your age…"


End file.
